


Round and Round

by anomalation



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Child Abuse, Found Family, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Other, Pickpockets, Platonic Kissing, Platonic Life Partners, Platonic Soulmates, Tragic Backstory TM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 18:56:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9285545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anomalation/pseuds/anomalation
Summary: Lula is definitely not in love with any of the Horsemen, but she does want to introduce them to her mom. She'll just have to leave out the part where they worked at a state fair and she and Jack shared a bed.I'm sorry for using a Steve Miller Band reference as the title.





	

Lula’s not blind. She knows Jack isn’t into her for realsies. Frankly she doubts he’s strictly straight too, which probably didn’t help her chances to begin with. Not that he would owe it to her to be into her if he were straight, or that he does now. And also not that she’s obligated to be interested in him. She’s not. He doesn’t owe her anything, regardless of orientation. That’s the point. So she’s not upset that he’s not into her. Mostly not. Rationally not upset. Emotionally wounded that he doesn’t at least like her. 

“Cat got your tongue?” Merritt says across the aisle. He always sounds smug, especially when there’s literally no reason for him to. 

“No,” Lula says. “I just don’t have to talk every second of every day. You should try it. Oh wait, you’re a man,” she says slowly, pointing at him. “That explains it.” 

Merritt fakes a smile back. Atlas isn’t amused. “Hilarious,” he says, from behind them. “Unfounded personal attacks. Great.” Dylan just snorts. And Jack is the only one who doesn’t react at all. Hard not to take that personally. 

“Unfounded?” Lula raises her eyebrows. 

“Alright,” Dylan says loudly. “We’ve got a destination.” 

“Oh, you’ve _finally_ decided?” Merritt inquires. 

“Convenient timing,” Jack says. His feet are up on the seat next to him and he’s leaned back over his seat arm, tossing a rubber-banded deck of cards up and catching them. The kid knows his schtick. 

“Yeah,” Atlas says. “Saving that little tidbit for when the natives got restless, how parental.” He’s all the way at the back of the bus. Guy likes his vantage points. 

Dylan is at the front; he looks back at all of them with a patient sigh. “So you want to know? Or…”

“Yes,” Lula snaps, at the exact second Atlas does.

Dylan cracks a smile. “We’re hitting the American Northwest.” 

“Doing what?” Merritt says. 

“We need to lay low,” Dylan begins, which isn’t a good sign. 

“Oh my God,” Lula groans. “Just say it.” 

“I’ve got a buddy who owns this casino-“

The whole bus groans, except Atlas, who says, “You have got to be kidding.”

“I’m not kidding.” Dylan sounds stubborn. Not good.

“Boo,” Lula frowns and tosses a crumpled receipt at him. “Casino? Really? That’s barely a step up from being carnies. And I’d know.” 

“Yeah, no-go muchacho,” Merritt nods. “Trust me. Not good work.” 

“It’s not a carnival,” Dylan says loudly. “It’s a casino. You’ll be dealers, bartenders, guards-“

“That’s a staggeringly bad idea,” Atlas says. “We’ll get bored and act out. I’ll give you like fifty to one odds that Jack will give someone an impossible hand in his first shift.” 

Dylan looks disappointed, but not surprised. “Really thought you could control yourselves better,” he says after a second.

Which is how they end up at a fair instead. 

“Fairs are the modern-age carnival,” Merritt complains.

“Carnivals are the modern-age carnival,” Lula tells him. “You know that carnivals still exist, right?” 

“C’mon, man,” Jack says to Dylan. “Y’serious about this?” 

“I’ve never been more serious,” Dylan says. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow, by the way. Finding us something more permanent. Don’t get arrested while I’m gone.” 

“We won’t,” Atlas snorts, offended by the very thought. 

Lula’s sitting next to him now, moved around lunch and stayed there. She likes him. A lot of buttons to push. Gooey caramel center. “Hey, fearless leader. What’s the group stance on magic for pay?” 

“I don’t understand the question,” Atlas says after a second. 

“We gonna use our unique talents, or are we going to be food truck bozos and ticket takers?” she clarifies. 

That gets a very small twitch of a smile out of him. Massive victory. “I don’t know. We probably shouldn’t push it, since we’re going incognito.”

“I don’t think you’ll get to pick,” Dylan mentions. 

Lula sighs deeply. “Great. Feels like being nineteen again.” 

Jack snorts. “Your nineteen and my nineteen were very different,” he says under his breath.

“Sure. Mock the suburban Jewish girl. Bring it on,” she says with good humor. “But when my mom sends a care package, I’m not sharing.”

“Me too,” Atlas says. “Jewish.” 

“Yep,” Jack murmurs. 

“Well,” Merritt says jovially. “We should celebrate Yom Kippur.” 

“Not till October, but thanks.” Lula is honed in on Atlas now, infrared tracking system engaged, so to speak. That’s like, the first personal thing he’s shared voluntarily. “Both your parents?” she asks. 

“I don’t know.” He’s fiddling with something in his hands. “Care packages aren’t safe.” 

“Oh, I know. Mom knows. We have a whole system, P.O. box an hour away, aliases, fake Etsy purchases.” Lula smiles, doesn’t get one back. “I’ve done it a bunch of times. One time while on the run from Scientology.” 

“I heard about that one,” Merritt says, pointing at her. “Good work.”

Lula takes a little bow from her seat. “Thank you kindly.”

Everyone settles in for the ride then, afternoon sleepiness kicking in. Atlas puts on his headphones, Jack sleeps, and Merritt has a Kindle, of all things. Lula pulls her book out of her purse. She’s reading _Gone Girl_. Aside from the murder, it’s a pretty kickass trick. A how-to on death-faking. Lula would implicate Merritt, because he’d think it would be funny. 

One thing, though. The protagonist, Amy, isn’t good at going undercover. She’s kind of unbelievably shitty at it. Her fake name was spontaneous not planned, her money extremely badly hidden, and where are her backup backup plans? If you want to survive, you have to think through at least a Plan E. Lula sounds enough like her real name, looks nothing like it, and is the actual name of nobody. Foolproof. 

Something occurs to her. “Hey,” she says, nudging Atlas’ shoulder with the back of her hand. He doesn’t startle as easily as she would’ve thought, just shrugs her hand off and pulls one side of his headphones off his ear. 

“What?” he says. She should probably stop thinking of everything he says as being brisk when that’s just his speaking style, but. Whatever. 

“It’s a fake name, right?” 

He blinks a couple of times. “I’m not telling you my real name.”

“That’s not what I asked, my dude.”

That confuses him, but he blinks that away after a second. “Okay… then yes. It is. Why.” 

“Just curious. So we’re all on the same page.” 

“Well yes. We’re all using fake names. So.”

This guy. Biggest pain in the ass. “What’s the J stand for?” she asks. 

“Nothing. Just a middle initial.” Might be a lie. She can’t tell. He gives her several seconds of a piercing stare. “Is that it?”

“It can be.”

Atlas looks at her again, several seconds. “Okay,” he finally says. And he puts his headphones back on. 

“He’s not a talker,” Merritt speaks up, still looking at his Kindle. “Well, no small talk anyways.” 

“Yeah, I’m catching on. How’s a girl supposed to occupy herself on a fourteen hour car ride?” 

Well, she has one idea. 

She starts with a string tied to the hinge of the door. The door’s fancy, folds right up, so she runs the string left and ties it around the reclining lever of the passenger seat. The chair springs forward when the elver’s pulled, so she puts it all the way back for now. Dylan is up here; he ignores her with good humor. 

“Who has a ping-pong ball?” she asks them all. 

Merritt tosses one to her. “What are you up to, missy?” 

“A little machinery.” With string, she hangs a tube of paper from the ceiling, a taped-together receipt from something Dylan bought. She makes sure it’s balanced on the reclined seat, so the ball is there and will drop when the seat moves. 

“I like it.” Merritt is watching now. “What are you, Rube Goldberg’s secret lovechild?” 

“Anything is possible,” she says, focusing on the next bit. 

It only takes two hours. When they stop for dinner and the door opens, the little machine goes off without a hitch, ending in a CD being pushed into the car’s CD player and playing _Man on the Run_. She found it in Dylan’s CD collection of exclusively dad music. 

Reactions are mixed. Only Merritt is feeling the groove. Atlas watched the whole thing, and says, “Song choice was a little on the nose.” 

Lula sighs. “Everyone’s a critic.”

Possibly most offensively, Jack doesn’t react at all. Not that she’s keeping track or anything. She’s playing it cool. So she doesn’t notice. 

“So that’s just a hobby of yours?” Atlas says, falling into step next to her as they get off the bus. 

Physics minor makes it a little more than a hobby, but she’s not ready to tell anybody about that yet. They haven’t earned it. “No, it’s not,” she says. “It’s super nerdy and mathy and scientific. Taboo.” 

“I think that’s a joke, but you should work on your delivery.” 

Lula sighs very deeply, deep enough that she hopes everyone sees how patient she’s being. “Okay,” she says. “Does the hazing ever stop off-stage? I mean is it because I’m the only girl or the newest member of the team?” 

“It’s not because of either of those things,” he begins. 

“Or is everyone just pissed because I’m not Henley, who I’m sure you liked a lot more,” she continues over him. Jack’s walking ahead of them, definitely listening. She plows on. “Which is fine, of course, and I’m sure I’d like her too but I’m here now.” 

“Henley was really good,” Atlas agrees. “And she was someone I knew how to work with. And, she was older, too, so the… the dynamics were more… easy to understand,” he finishes awkwardly. He blushes unevenly. 

Lula looks at the sky. “Oh my God.” 

“You asked.” 

“I did. I did ask. Wow. So you guys can’t decide if you want me to fuck you or be your mom.” Atlas starts to sputter complaints, so she adds, “I’m kidding, dude, oh my God. But really? That’s bullshit.” 

“Fair enough,” Atlas admits after a second. “I guess we may have been a little… tough.” 

“I can handle tough. I’m not asking for anyone to go easy on me. But since we’re going to be spending so much time together and all, maybe consider at least pretending you like me as a human being? Maybe?” 

“Understood.” She thinks she sees him crack another tiny smile. “You should get supplies,” he says. “For another machine.”

“Good call, I’m running low on string.” 

Atlas huffs a laugh out. Huge victory. She grins back. 

Jack turns around then, and looks at Dylan behind them. “You got money for us or what?” 

“Nope, we’re out. London cleared everything we had. You’ll have to cover yourselves.” 

“Do you have cash?” Atlas asks as soon as Jack’s turned back around. 

“Are you all really that broke?” she complains, pulling her wallet out of her back pocket. “I’ve got exactly forty bucks in cash.” Atlas holds his hand out, so she gives it to him. They’re all in this together. 

Without another word, he lengthens his stride and leaves her, passes Jack. He bumps into Jack, actually, and she witnesses an extremely smooth pass of her forty bucks to Jack. Just clumsy enough to he feels it, but they don’t need to talk about it. Boys. 

She sidles up to Atlas in the chips aisle. “So what the hell was that?” Merritt is nearby; he looks at them suspiciously. 

“What the hell was what?” 

“Jack. My money.” 

Merritt comes closer, puts one big hand on her shoulder. “The kid’s flat broke,” he murmurs. “And real touchy about it.” 

“We’re in this together anyways,” Atlas shrugs. 

She can’t argue with that, or doesn’t want to, at least. “If I get pretzels will you eat any?” she asks, picking up a bag of them. 

“Honey,” Merritt says. “We will eat just about anything.” 

“Not raspberries,” Atlas says. “They get stuck in your teeth.” 

Lula raises her eyebrows. “Okay.”

They check out near each other, some kind of automatic group chemistry. “Hey, Jackie boy, I hope you got-“ Merritt begins. 

“I did,” Jack says from the next line. “Yes, chocolate-covered peanuts. Why can’t you just remember?” 

“I _forgot_ , how many times do I have to tell you?” 

“Well, at least one more,” Jack sighs. Lula watches him pay with her cash, pocket the change, and it’s not like she’s stingy but it’s weird. 

Dylan does a visible count of them as they leave. “Anyone steal anything?” he asks, and she doesn’t think he’s kidding much. 

“Nope,” Merritt says cheerfully. 

“No.” Jack is more annoyed. This has been an issue in the past. 

“We aren’t automatically kleptomaniacs just because we weren’t federal agents,” Atlas says, and Lula snorts. 

“Nice,” she says through her mouthful of pretzels. 

So she and Merritt are fine. She and Atlas are good, friendly. Dylan’s a distant, dad-like presence. It’s just fucking Jack. And again, it’s not like he has to like her, or even necessarily be friendly with her. And she’s aware that any sense of responsibility to be likable is probably rooted in how girls are raised to be all subservient and pleasant. Not that she’s either. And besides all that, it’s just annoying. The two of them had fun. So midway through hour 9, she plops into the seat next to him. 

“Hey.” 

Jack looks at her reluctantly, smile in his eyes. “Hey.” 

“You’ve been avoiding me.” 

“I have,” he admits easily. 

“Atlas says it’s cuz you aren’t sure if you want to fuck me or not,” she says conspiratorially.

“Y'know you can just call him Danny,” Jack says back, matching her tone.

“You know that was clearly not my main point.” 

Jack tries to hide his smile at that, ducking his head, and he has to admit, “Yeah, not exactly.” 

“Not quite.” She puts his wallet on his leg; it was easier than anything to take it from his pocket. “You seem pretty distracted.” 

“Look,” he begins, and doesn’t finish. 

“Jack,” she says, deeply sincere. “I don’t want to fuck you. Especially if you don’t want to fuck me. Okay? Can we stop now, with the weird?” 

He grins and bites his lip. “Alright, alright. Yes. Sorry. Don’t hold it against me.” 

“I won’t,” she says, as she deposits the pack of gum formerly in his pocket onto his leg. “Did you steal this from the store for any particular reason?” 

“No. Maybe not,” he shrugs, and tries not to look guilty. Lula knows a fake innocent face when she sees one. “It was an accident,” he tries next.

“Oh yeah? Really?” She doesn’t believe him, but she lets it go. They’re all adrenaline junkies. Makes more sense than it should. “How do you feel about Rube Goldberg machines?” 

“No particular way.” 

“Are you interested in developing those feelings?” 

“Sure. How would we start?” 

 

 

Sixteen hours and twenty-one minutes from the start of the journey, they’re there. Granted, “there” is just a shitty motel, but it’s stationary at least, and she’s exhausted. 

“I only got you two rooms,” Dylan says. “I’m not staying.”

“Awesome,” Lula says, plucking a room key from his hand. “Have a good drive back. I’m going to bed.” 

As she flops face-first into bed, she hears all three of the other guys following her into the room, even though there’s a whole other room for two of them. Someone sits on her bed. Someone else turns on the TV. They’re all talking; it takes a second to separate the voices. 

Jack is on the bed next to her, saying the least, as usual. Merritt appears to be the one on the other bed, while Atlas is probably pacing, knowing him.

“Did mister Fed leave us any dough?” Merritt says, first thing she manages to catch. 

“No, he did not.” Atlas’ voice is moving all over the place - definitely pacing. “He did pay for the rooms for a week, which is good. But it’s also not enough. We don’t start work until Monday, and even then it’s only minimum wage.” 

It’s Thursday, she figures out after a moment. They’ve got five days. 

“I mean the guy’s got money, that’s pretty clear,” Merritt says. “So it’s pretty rude of him to not share the wealth.” 

“I mean do the math,” Atlas continues. “Two rooms at approximately a hundred dollars a night, plus groceries and other stuff.” 

“Do any of you have money?” Jack says. Apparently it’s a given that he doesn’t, Lula thinks just as he adds, “I’ve got about fifteen bucks.” 

Brief awkward silence, some rustling. “I have thirty-seven dollars,” Atlas says. “And we shouldn’t use cards.” 

“Hundred and eighty, give or take,” Merritt says. “Hit a couple of jackpots at that rest stop.”

Lula can’t just listen to that. “Okay first of all?” she says, flipping over. “We can’t steal, we’ll get caught like sooner than immediately, in a town this size. Second, we _can_ run a scam, just far away. Third, who here has a credit card?” 

Merritt is the only one who raises his hand. “It’s not mine,” he says. 

“Cut it up.” 

Atlas nods to back her up. “What scam?” he asks. 

“Cairo flyer,” Merritt says. “Or the Berlin shuffle.” 

“I don’t have a dress to use for that,” she shakes her head. “And both those are too complex.” 

Jack looks at Atlas. “Am I missing something?” 

“We’ll just run the Paris two-step,” Lula says. She’s still lying on her back. “But only if we go somewhere way more populated.”

“Y’know, I’ve heard that called the Parisian Lullaby,” Merritt says. 

He’s full of shit. “Whatever it is, are we running it?” 

“As soon as possible,” Atlas says. “Who, you and Jack?” 

Lula turns and bats her eyelashes at Jack. “Think you can handle the fake romance?” 

Jack rolls his eyes. Sometimes it seems like he’s always fighting a smile, which has got to be one of her favorite quirks of his. "I can handle it,” he says. “What’s the scam?” 

Atlas’ explanation is as short as everything else he says. “Two con artists pretend to be a couple, tag-team with casual grabs to get wallets."

Merritt snorts. "Way to take all of the magic out of it. Y’gotta finesse it a little. Pretend to be so deeply in love that it makes you clumsy. Newlyweds or something like that. Then, she carries a big purse, lots of hand-holding for easy passes back and forth, and above all, don’t get caught.” 

Lula holds up Jack’s drivers’ license. “No problem.” She tosses it at him, and he catches it, still smiling. “We should probably get some clothes, too, since our stuff apparently isn’t here yet.”

"That was inside my wallet,” Jack says, like maybe she’s not aware of that. 

“Yes. I am that good. Try and get on my level.” 

Jack nods; challenge accepted. “Okay. I’ll practice tomorrow.” 

“Fine,” Atlas agrees. “We have a little time. We need a car, I’m gonna go see if I can find a rental place or something.” 

“Let’s get Chinese while we’re out,” Merritt says, standing up. Apparently, he’s also going. 

Atlas looks at the other two of them. “Takeout?” 

“Sure, I’ll eat anything,” Lula shrugs, and Jack nods too. 

So the team is working well together, it’s going ok. Depending on how Jack's hand skills look tomorrow, it will probably be going well, even. As well as it can be going, considering that she’s going to be sleeping in her clothes with a bunch of dudes.

 

 

 

“So how d’you do it?” 

“Do what?” She’s washing her face trying to feel less gross going into hour thirty-something of wearing these clothes. 

“Yesterday, taking my license from my wallet.” Jack looks shockingly good, which she’s coming to suspect is like, just normal for him. 

“Oh. Dude wallets have like, four different setups. And after that, it’s just by feel. Gimme your wallet.” Jack obeys, an she demonstrates with what she suspects is soap still on her face. She pulls a dollar bill from it without opening it. “There’s a little wiggle.” 

“Okay.” Jack tries it himself. He’s slower, and it wouldn’t work well in real life. “What about girl wallets?” 

“Harder. Snap shut, most of the time.” 

“So we’d grab them, empty them, and put them back?” 

“If we have the time, Romeo.” She turns from the mirror, pulling her hair up and back. Buns are still cool, right? “All while pretending to be in love, or whatever. How’s that sound? Doable?” 

“I don’t want to confuse things, is all,” Jack says, avoiding her eyes. “I mean, I meant it, when I said…” 

“Yeah, dork, I know." Lula cracks her neck. “Me neither, by the way. Remember that? I don’t like you either.” If he were someone she liked less, she’d inform him that no one is waiting to jump he’s bones just because he’s a man. But she likes him. 

He catches on anyways. His smile is a little sheepish. “Right, right. Okay. Lemme practice.” He stands. 

“Right, we’ve gotta get you in top shape. Okay. We’ll do some bump grabs, to start. Lets get those up to par.” She’s teasing; he smiles. They’re gonna be fine. 

Jack takes a smoke break after a couple hours, leaning against a pillar in front of the room. She watches from the doorway, honestly to keep an eye on him. She’s not entirely convinced that someone won’t come and throw them into some police van, never to be seen again. And aside from that, she notices that his hands seem stiff. He’s rusty. 

“So,” Jack says. “Where’d you learn this? I mean you said you’re from somewhere normal, some suburbs, right?” He’s looking out over the parking lot. 

“Kind of,” she say slowly. “I learned from a library book, at first. And then from getting banned from three malls when I got caught. The first time I didn’t get caught, I was shocked. Why?” 

“You learned from a book,” he repeats. “In a library.” 

“Jack…” she frowns at the back of his head. “What are you asking?” 

“Nothing,” he says after a second. “Just curious about it.”

If he were here, Merritt would say to use what she knows, so she tries that. Jack’s broke, a con artist, touchy about his past. Likely he came up rough. Less likely, but possible that he came up extremely rich. Either way, the best bet is that he’s feeling insecure.

“Dude, look, I’ve just had more practice recently, ‘specially with this kind of shit. I’ve had a partner before, have you?” 

“Not for a while.” 

“Exactly. And you’re picking it up quickly, quicker than I did.” 

He turns to smirk at her. “You’re flattering me, and you aren’t doing a good job of it.” 

She just cocks an eyebrow and shrugs. “Do I need to do a good job?” 

“Alright.” He huffs a breath out, half sigh and left. “You’re an ass.”

“Also true.” 

When he comes inside, he hugs her and she just barely feels him take her wallet. He’s getting more comfortable. She lets him believe it worked; Dad encouraged positive reinforcement.

 

 

 

Without the safety of armrests, Atlas doesn’t seem to like sitting by anyone. He unlocks the door to the adjoining room when he and Merritt get back and retires to there. Merritt dozes on the bed next to her and Jack. It’s basically like still being alone, with a soundtrack of quiet TV and snoring. 

Jack disappeared about an hour after dinner; he comes back with three bags of clothes from some Goodwill. She doesn’t think he left wth any money, actually, but that’s not looking super important because he tosses her sweatpants.

“You have the face and now, the thoughtfulness of an angel,” she says, immediately stripping off her jeans and pulling on the sweats. 

Jack smiles so big his eyes get sparkly, and he tosses her new socks, a pack of underwear, and some various T-shirts and crewnecks. “If it’s too big, it’s mine,” he says. 

“You’ve got it.” 

She showers, since she’s finally got new clothes, and she feels like a new fucking person. After, she gets in bed with Jack, reading his expression as she sits. Before she gets anything, he’s reading her back. And then he holds an arm out to her. 

“Oh yeah?” she says. “You sure you won’t get confused?” 

“Fuck you,” he grins, and pulls her close to lean on her. He’s cute. And warm, and it’s been too long since she’s like, touched another person. So she stays there for a couple minutes.

Several commercial breaks later, Atlas comes to the connecting door and just stands there, in the middle. “Hey,” he says. “Just checking.”

He’s talking to Lula. “Okay,” she says. “Everything good?” 

“Yep. Yep, good.” He nods a couple times, doesn’t leave yet. 

“You want to come over and watch some guy pretend to be in love with twenty girls? The Bachelor,” she clarifies. “I think we can change it now that Merritt’s asleep.” 

Atlas comes into the room slowly. He sits on the near side of Merritt’s bed. “Or we could watch poker.” 

Jack sighs, but he changes the channel. “That’s Merritt’s trick,” he says. “Practicing facial tick stuff. I tune it out, man.” 

“Good way to stay sharp,” Atlas says. “Monitor the faces of the best poker players in the world.” 

Good thing Atlas is sharp, because she’s never been good at that type of thing. He and Jack are super good at it; they predict hands with kinda frightening accuracy, really. They know.

“How’d you get so good at this?” she asks Jack. His question from before, turning it back on him - but he probably doesn’t need that pointed out.

He chuckles a little first - definitely got it. “Uh, well. Necessity, mostly. Not out of a book, if that’s what you’re asking.”

They both know it isn’t. “Okay, so on the street. Or.” 

“No,” he answers reluctantly. “Nah, before that. Always had a knack for it, I guess. Since I was a kid.” 

There it is. Weak spot, given up by tension in his voice. She’s not good at people, but she gets that. He was a kid, so a bad home maybe, rich or poor. Abused kids pick up on nonverbal cues fast, because they need to. 

“Dad was a psychologist, pre-retirement,” she blurts out, because it doesn’t feel fair that they don’t know that. It’s a little too much of an ace to keep up her sleeve. “And I never picked any of that up.” 

“Bullshit,” Jack snorts. 

It is bullshit. But she doesn’t need to tell the truth if he already knows it. That’s like, a rule, right? She’s pretty sure.

“What kind of psychology?” Atlas - or Danny - asks. 

“Oh, Family psych, marriage counseling. Relational.” 

“Apt.” He’s amused. “And you still talk?” 

“Nah. I talk to my mom, though. Good terms. If I stay with you guys much longer, I’ll have to introduce you.” She thinks she’s joking. Maybe not, though. 

They’ve got two rooms, four beds, but Jack sleeps on the other side of her bed, and Atlas shares with Merritt. Seems like even the Horsemen aren’t above getting lonely.

 

 

 

The kid’s got the jitters. It’s adorable. It’s also super inconvenient. 

“Jack, honey,” she says in an undertone. “Chill out.” And she squeezes his hand tight for a second. “We’re gonna be fine if you believe it, okay?” 

“Yeah, but if we get caught again-“

“We will not get caught. You’re good at this.” Holding his hand makes them unwieldy. They bump into someone, and she doesn’t even think anything of it until Jack drops something in her purse.

“Maybe I am,” he says with half a smile. “That was a hundred and ten.” 

She whacks his arm. “So that was all fake?” 

“No. Good timing, though.” 

He’s telling the truth, she thinks. As far as she can tell. He’s more nervous than she’s seen him, like ever. “Here,” she says. “Let’s go, food court. Aim for the dudes.” 

"Right."

His hands are steady, face as blank as it needs to be. She doesn’t trust that, though. She’ll catch panic in his eyes after a grab, before he forces it down. It’s weird. 

They’re in the checkout line at H&M, pants for him and a couple T-shirts, when she brings it up. “Is there something going on that I don’t know about?” she says quietly. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean I’ve gotta trust you, don’t I. And I can’t if you’re sinking and won’t tell me.” They shuffle forward in line. She leans back, closer to him, for cover but also to feel what his heart rate and breathing do. 

“I’m not sinking.” His heart is racing, though. “Nothing to tell.” 

“Bullshit, Jack. Should we cut out now? We’ve got almost a grand.” 

“No, I’m good, I swear.” 

“Y’sure? I’m not going down for you, bucko.” 

“Lu, I’m one hundred percent fine and nobody’s going down for anything,” he says near her ear. “Relax, okay? Relax.” And he puts his hand on her hip and smiles because they’re getting looked at. 

“Take your own advice, why don’t ya,” she says through a smile of her own. And then they have to take a break to do some lying as they check out. 

He holds the bags. She holds his hand. And when they walk out, “I’m not good with this,” she says. “I’m pulling the plug in sixty seconds unless you explain yourself. We can figure something else out.” 

“No.” He stops, still holding her hand, so she stops too and turns to face him. Jack looks her in the eyes, probably attempting to look honest. She can’t quite see into him, but he lets her in more than usual. “Haven’t worked with a partner since I was a kid, not used to someone else that could go down if I fuck up. Okay? I’m just being careful. I’m good, I can hang. Okay?” 

“Promise?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Okay. And don’t tell the guys, they’ll never stop giving me shit.” 

“I promise.” 

They start walking again. After a second, she says, “Hey. I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’m not going down for anything. And neither are you. That’s a guarantee.”

“Okay.” 

“You ever got caught?” she guesses after a second. “Is that what this is about?” she asks. He doesn’t really answer, just swallows hard. “What, juvie?” 

“No. Well, yeah. Came close to real jail.” 

“Got caught?” 

“What are you, a therapist yourself?” he says under his breath. “Can we just-“ He bumps into a middle-aged guy, comes away with forty-one dollars that he drops in her purse. “-focus?” 

“I’ll focus when you give me an answer.” 

“Yeah, I got caught, didn’t go well inside, c’MON, Lu.” 

She gives in with a smile. “Was that so hard?” she murmurs, and snatches a twenty from some dude’s wallet. “We’re almost done, maybe give it an hour.” 

“Okay.” 

It goes smoother after that. In the Gap, he hugs her tightly and backs her into the guy behind them, then apologizes. He comes away with $65, and he’s smiling a lot more than usual. Confidence goes a long way. 

She kinda loves it. Jack’s always been big on faking confidence, sure, but she’s decided as of now that he didn’t have any for real. He’s kind of obnoxious now, actually, but she likes that too. He starts getting more ballsy, pulling her right into people to get wallets, and they make serious bank. 

“Hey,” she says, “final stop is Victoria’s Secret - big unmonitored dressing rooms.” 

“Okay. Fine, okay. But I’m not looking at any bras on you,” he says, biting back a smile, scratching his jaw to try and hide it. 

“Never asked, sweetheart.” 

She gets a bra, because she needs more than one just to function as a human. And then she counts the cash in her bag. She can actually hardly believe it. “Almost two grand,” she whispers to him in the checkout line. 

“Holy… holy shit.” 

“Yeah holy shit. That’s like, scary good. We frighten me.” 

He snorts, and then does the whole boyfriend act for the checkout lady before falling quiet again on the walk out to the checkpoint. “Should’ve gotten a partner years ago,” he finally says. 

“Should've gotten _you_ two years ago,” she says. “This is shockingly good money. Like, quit magic and become a grifter money.” 

“Yeah, no kidding.” He sits at the table that’s they picked out before as the endpoint, and she plops down next to him with all their bags and puts her purse in her lap. And then Jack takes her hand, and she can’t tell if he forgot the con’s over or if he doesn’t care. Kinda just feels natural, though. Feels like this is just them. 

“You did good, kid,” she says, pretending to not be serious. 

He smiles back at her. “You too. I had a good teacher.”

“You did, you did. I should’ve never doubted you.”

Jack looks specifically away while Atlas sits down across from him, next to her. “How’s the haul?” Atlas says. 

“Really good,” she grins. “Amazing. Close to two grand.” 

“Shit.” He’s taken aback. “That’s very good.” 

“I know.” 

Merritt sits down too, last empty seat, and they fill him in. He gives a low whistle when he hears their take. “What are you two, some kind of grifting prodigies?” 

“Maybe,” Jack smiles. “Kinda. We got clothes, too, so the take was even more than what we’ve got.” 

“Good. Good job.” Atlas scans the room. “Let’s get going.”

They’re walking out when she clocks a cop coming towards them. Everyone sees it; she can tell because Merritt puts himself between the cop and her, and Danny gets uncomfortably close. The money’s in her bag, she just has to get at it. Fuck, she has to get at it. 

“Ma’am, I need to take a look inside your bag,” the officer says. Like an actual officer, not just a mall cop. Shit. A real cop. 

“I’m not sure what right you have,” she begins. 

“Just show him,” Jack interrupts her. “You’ve done nothing wrong, we’ve got nothing to hide. The disrespect,” he adds under his breath. 

Shit. She doesn’t know what his plan is, but she leans into it. “Fine,” she says loudly. “Fine!” And she dumps her purse out on the mall floor, praying Jack’s done his part. 

There are tampons, lipstick, receipts, probably too much string and definitely too much hand lotion. There’s fake blood hidden in a pocket that doesn’t come out, thank God, because that would be hard to explain. And most importantly, and probably hardest to explain, there’s no money in the pile either. Fuck yes.

The cop apologizes with some social pressure from Atlas and Jack, as she picks back up the contents, and then Jack takes her hand again to lead her away. They close in around her, and as soon as they’re clear, they start whispering. 

“Fuck!” Lula says for starters. 

“Goddamn,” Merritt sighs. 

“That was some quick work,” Atlas says to Jack. “Nice job.” 

Jack’s grinning. “Thank you very much. Couldn’t have done it without Lu. That was great.” 

“Where is it?” Lula asks.

“Shoulder pocket.” 

She glares at him. “What the fuck kinda custom jacket do you have on your body, Jack?” she demands. “I mean really.” 

“My jacket saved your ass,” he points out. “And I did all the sewing myself.” 

“Really?” Atlas chimes in. 

“Yeah, my ma taught me a thing or two.”

“How many pockets?” Merritt says. 

“Eh. Thirty or forty. Lost count.” He shrugs. And she tries to calm her heart rate and not think about the exit plans she had thought through in the seconds before she knew what the plan was. 

 

 

 

Second day of the fair, things finally get interesting. Lula’s talking to some tourist, telling them where some kind of dairy tent is - she doesn’t know what she’s talking about as she’s talking about it - and she sees something. Across the way, a kid in a dusty flannel shirt is talking to some guy. And her instincts are telling her she saw him talking to other people, getting money. This kid is pulling some kind of scam. 

It’s a fair. Who cares. Everyone’s conning everyone else with some dumb booth of fake games. She keeps helping randoms find tents and practices signatures onthe back of some maps in her downtime. 

Around lunch, Jack ambles up to her table and then ignores her for a second, just to get her blood boiling. Then he grins at her. 

“Hey fuckhead,” she says, smiling back. 

He pulls her up by the hand, even though that’s totally unnecessary, and then he just kinda keeps it, as they walk down the fairway. “Some kid tried to grift me today,” he says. 

“Which kid?” she frowns. “Brown flannel shirt? Short hair, work boots?” 

“Yeah. He come up to you too?” 

“Nah I watched him get someone else. You give him money?” 

“Yep.” She looks at him, and he smiles. “Gotta support our own.”

“You’re a sap,” she tells him. “What are we eating.” 

“I got us sandwiches off some girl in the food court, she’s hanging onto them for us.” 

“Jack,” she says disapprovingly. “Have you broken a third girl’s heart? It’s only been two days.” 

His smile grows. “No. Not really.”

“What’d you do?” 

“I told her I’ve got a girlfriend, and we’re in an open relationship. Which is kinda true.” 

“Yeah, kinda true if you consider a pack of cards your girlfriend, since you’re pathologically afraid of commitment, my friend,” Lula says, and then there’s a second of awkward silence. 

“Yikes.” 

“Kidding.” 

“You weren’t. But I mean I don’t see you in any kind of relationship.” He makes the word sound taboo. And isn’t that just adorable of him. 

She snorts. “Yeah? Who do you think I could explain this to?”

“Good point, good point.” 

He talks a big game for someone that’s holding hands with her. But then again, so does she, really. She’s still holding his hand too. So when they get to the food court and she meets the girl, she doesn’t out his lie. “So this is her?” she says to Jack. “She’s cute. Good for you.” 

“Thanks, sweetheart.” Jack doesn’t let go of her hand even then. “You got those sandwiches for us, Rachel?” 

They get their sandwiches. Rachel is definitely into Jack, like a hundred percent, and she is super, super cute, so after they walk away Lula says, “Okay, but you’re actually into her, right? Because she’s like, gorg.”

Jack grins. “I know.”

“Don’t be mean to her, I like this one. She’s a good Jewish girl, I can just feel it.” They head inside to sit at their usual spot, a corner table in a big hall that smells like horses. More of a stadium than a dining hall, but who’s complaining. Well, besides her. 

“Well, I dunno. Not sure how long we’ll be here, for starters.” 

“Sure,” Lula says. “I gotcha. Jack Wilder can’t be held down.” 

“Alright, don’t do that,” Jack rolls his eyes. “C’mon. The third person is so lame, it’s a cheap tactic.” 

“Okay, but it’s fucking hilarious.” 

He doesn't argue with that. He sits down next to her at the picnic table, and then he elbows her while she unwraps her sandwich. “Oh my god,” Lula says. “It’s like having a little brother. I’d imagine.” 

“Little brother?” 

“Never had one. Just an older sister.” 

“You’re missing out, dude.” 

“Apparently.” She rolls her eyes at him for probably the fifteenth time since waking up today. “You couldn’t get us chips?” 

“Alright,” Jack sighs very deeply and sets his arms on the table, and Lula’s giggling when Danny comes over with lunch of his own. 

“Hey,” he says, and tosses them a couple bags of chips. “Jack always forgets,” he says by way of explanation. 

“Holy shit, Danny,” Lula says in awe.

“Jacob,” Jack says, taking his first bite. “Don’t forget our fake names.” 

“Okay, I just stopped calling him Atlas, so maybe we can cut me some slack,” Lula is saying, extremely patiently, when Merritt comes over with that scruffy kid in tow. He’s got him by the back of his shirt, and he looks pissed. 

“Alright gang, we’ve got a fucking problem, here,” Merritt says. 

“What the fuck, Merritt, there’s a kid here,” Lula says through a mouthful. 

“Marilyn,” Jack says to her.

“Whatever.” 

Merritt sits the kid down hard across from Lula and next to Danny. “This kid tried to swindle me. Me! Of all people.” 

“I did not, sir,” the kid says. 

“You sure did buddy.” 

“I gave him money,” Jack shrugs, taking another bite. “It was a good schtick. Respect the game.”

Lula sighs. “Sap. I told you and I was right.” 

“Wait, what’s the situation?” Danny says curiously. 

“The kid’s a grifter, asking for a job and getting people to give him cash. But not me,” Merritt says firmly. “I don’t get played.” 

“Put your old hillbilly pride aside for three seconds, Mer-bear,” Lula says. 

“It’s Marilyn,” Jack says. 

“Right. Danny, tell him to leave the kid alone.”

“Jacob.” 

Lula whirls on Jack. “Alright, dickweed. How about you leave me alone about everyone’s goddamn name for three seconds. Huh? How about that?“

Jack tries to fight his smile, because he’s gotta know that’s just going to piss her off further. “I’m sorry,” he says. “Let’s move on.” 

“Oh, I dunno, _can_ we? You’re the one being the fucking name police over here.” She fake punches him in the arm. Well it’s a real punch but not hard, and Jack just laughs. And Danny snorts and Merritt is smoking himself calmer, so Lula backs down too. Anyways, Jack is trying to get a read on this kid, which is more interesting than ripping him a new ass. She joins him, watching this teenager pretend he’s not watching them.

“How long you been running this con, kid?” Merritt finally says. 

“It’s not a con. I’m looking for work,” the kid says doggedly. He’s got a pretty thick accent, sounds a lot like Merritt’s. 

“Then what’s all the money?” she says. “A coincident?” 

He gets shifty. So maybe it’s a half truth. He’d work, but he’ll take cash too. 

“Why don’t you just take it?” Jack asks. 

“What?” This hasn’t occurred to Huckleberry Finn. 

“Take it, like pick their pockets,” Jack explains. 

Lula elbows him in the ribs. “Hey, Jackie, maybe don’t advocate crime to strange children.” 

“Sorry, what’s your name?” Danny asks the kid. 

“Uh, Tyler.” 

It’s normal enough to be true. She buys it. “And where exactly are you from?” 

“Texas,” he says, sounding faint. 

“And why are you running a con at a fair in North Dakota?” Merritt says. 

“It ain’t a con.” 

“Whatever you want to call it, kiddo,” Lula says. “What’s the deal?”

Tyler looks around at all of them, at Merritt particularly. “Please don’t call the cops,” he says. “I’ll give you your money back.”

“I don’t want it back,” Jack says. “You did good. Where're your parents at?”

“My daddy’s not feeling too well, he’s at our RV.” 

“Uh huh. So why are you out here?” Merritt asks. Lula can almost guarantee he’s already got an answer. 

“Well it’s just we spent everything getting here, so I thought I’d get…” 

“Jesus,” Merritt says. “Glad I caught you before someone called security on you, y’know that, kiddo? And then where’s your meal ticket?” 

“Hey, old man. Try updating your metaphors once in a while,” Lula says. 

“Fuck you.” 

“How much money did you make?” Jack asks Tyler. 

Danny holds up a wad of bills. “He got a couple hundred. Not bad.” 

Tyler puts a hand over his pocket and turns to Danny. “How’d you do that?” 

“Sleight of hand,” Danny shrugs. “Look. Lu, take Jack’s watch.” 

Jack starts to argue, but Lula already has his watch dangling from her fingers. “Not your fault,” she says. “I took it when we sat down.” 

“Who’s the fucking kleptomaniac?” Jack grumbles, taking his watch back, and then he puts her earring on the table. 

“What… the actual fuck, man,” she sighs as she picks it up. “When did you even have the opportunity.” 

“That’s why I’m better,” Jack says to her. 

Tyler isn’t watching them. He’s looking at Danny. “Can I get my money back, please, sir?” he says. Seems like a stubborn type to her, but nobody’s counting on her for the people-reading. 

Danny looks around at them all, and instantly Jack reacts. “No, man, c’mon.” 

“What?” Lula says. 

Jack sighs, shaking his head. “He wants the kid in on it.” 

“Not a good idea, hombre,” Merritt says. He’s produced an apple and a knife from his pockets, and he’s peeling the apple. “This lil’ squirt is too green. Can't trust him.” 

“You can,” Tyler says immediately. “You can trust me. I’m a hard worker.” 

“You ever worked before?” Merritt snorts. 

“Yes sir, I’ve picked peaches, I worked on a farm. I been workin’ since I was twelve, everywhere I could.” 

“You supporting your family?” Danny says quietly, and Tyler nods after a second. Danny gives him the money back. “When you run out of cash, if you’re still in town, come back and find us. I can get you a job working in one of the booths. But you can’t steal, and you have to be on time.” 

“Yes sir.”

Danny looks at Merritt. Merritt sighs. “You can go,” he says.

Tyler stands up. “Thank you all,” he says awkwardly. “I’ll be back, I swear.” 

“Okay,” Danny says. Lula waves. And Tyler walks away. 

“Dumb decision,” Jack says. “For all you know he’s a dishonest little shit. Or a plant from someone looking to take us down.” 

“Who plants a sixteen year old homeless kid?” Lula asks. “I mean assuming we can believe him about his dad.” 

Jack gets up; somehow through everything happening, he’s managed to eat his entire sandwich. “One way to find out,” he says, and walks away. 

“Where’s he going?” Lula says. “I refuse to look and give him the satisfaction.” 

Merritt leans to get a better view. “Looks like he’s following the twerp,” he says. “I hope they’ve got someone to cover him on the Ferris Wheel.” 

“Fuck,” Lula sighs. “It’s gonna be me.” 

It is her. 

 

 

 

Jack’s waiting for them that night, sitting outside the hotel rooms, smoking again, which for some reason seems like the most irresponsible habit he has. 

“Where the hell were you?” Lula asks. 

“Followed him home.” 

“Uh, why?”

“He’s a kid, he’s not going to tell us the truth about shit. Went straight to the source. So now we know. He was telling the truth.” Jack's not impressed with his own irony; something’s wrong. He stays completely straight-faced as he takes another drag of his cigarette. 

Danny nods. “Okay. And what exactly was he telling the truth about?”

“Lives in an RV with his dad. His dad doesn’t work cuz his dad’s a fucking drunk, not cuz he’s sick. And he’s gonna be back tomorrow, I’ll bet you anything.” 

“Why’s that?” Merritt says. 

“Because I saw his dad take the money he made today.” 

“Take it how?” Danny says. Seems like he already knows, like Lula's the last person in on whatever the other three have by osmosis. 

Jack shrugs. “Knocked him down first,” he says. “He’ll have a black eye tomorrow, I bet.” 

“I bet," Merritt says grimly, and heads inside. 

“Can you get him a job tomorrow?” Danny asks Lula. 

“Me? Why me, you work at the information desk too, dork.” 

“Yeah, but you have a better… way. With people.” 

Lula raises her eyebrows. “Yeesh. I’ve got a better way with people? My stand-by introduction trick is a solid decapitation joke. Not quite family friendly.”

“Perfect for a teenage boy,” Jack points out. 

“Takes one to know,” she says. “What are you, seventeen? Could be his brother.”

“Yep,” Jack says shortly. And he goes inside too. 

Some dots finally connect for her. Granted they’re still extremely abstract and it’s nowhere near confirmed, but. “Shit,” Lula says. 

“Shit?"

“Does Jack have a tragic backstory?”

Danny snorts. “Probably. I’m not sure. He doesn’t talk about it.”

“So that’s a yes, isn’t it? Neither confirm or deny always means yes.” 

“Well. Sometimes it’s people trying to convince you it’s a yes. But you’re largely right. I also can’t technically confirm what I don’t know,” he finishes with half a smile. 

Lula respects his dodging game, always and forever. He almost deserves the stupid name Atlas. “Okay. So what do you know about Jack’s mild-mannered alter ego, though.” 

Danny glances inside - uneasy, looks like, maybe he doesn’t want to give up group secrets. She’s still the newbie. But then he tells her anyways, so maybe it’s all in her head. “No more than you do, really. Some good guesses. Left home when he was in high school, avoids connecting with people.”

“More comfortable when he’s conning people,” she observes.

“Aren’t we all.” 

That sets off half a twinge. Lula lets that fester for a bit. She showers, and then when she’s out, Jack’s in the other shower. She sighs, standing between the two rooms. Merritt takes notice. 

“Something on your mind, missy?” 

“How much of human relationships is conning the other person?” 

“Yikes,” Merritt raises his eyebrows. “Well, I’ll bite. I’m not sure.”

“Helpful. Master of communication.” 

Merritt laughs. “Suppose I am. Does it feel like a con?” 

“I don’t know. Is it cheating that we know shortcuts for how to make people like us?” 

“Is it cheating to be better at anything than someone else?” he says thoughtfully, and that’s when she finally catches it. 

“How high are you right now?”

“Pretty darn.” 

“Alright, old man.” She walks into the other room, sits on the bed, and turns on the TV. She needs her luggage to get here like yesterday; she’s going crazy without her laptop. No smartphones allowed either. How’s a girl supposed to remain up to date?

Jack comes and plops in bed next to her, hair damp against her arm. “Hey.”

“How did you follow him home?” 

“He walked, doesn’t live that far from the fairgrounds.”

“How’d you get back here?” 

“Hitched a ride. What’s with the twenty questions?” He’s got a deck of cards again, for some reason, and he’s shuffling them. “Hey, pick a card.”

She does, just to humor him, and then watches while he does a bunch of shuffling type things. He’ll show her the same card at the end; she doesn’t pay attention to the specifics. “You think we can protect him?” 

“Who, the kid?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I don’t know.”

“But you want to, right?”

“Why do you say that?” 

“Well you followed him home, I mean. That’s a pretty clear sign that this isn’t just… some normal thing.” 

“That’s a pretty bold assumption. Is this your card?” He holds it up. It is; she nods. “Look, I just wanted a clearer picture of the situation.” 

“Bullshit. You aren't the big-picture guy.”

Jack frowns. “Hey.” 

“And I’m not a big-picture kind of girl, either, I’m not attacking you. It’s just…” She shrugs, kinda shakes her head. 

“Spit it out, Lu.” 

“What was your dad like?” 

Jack looks up at her for just a second. “Oh.”

“That’s all I get, huh,” she says after a second. “I mean, what do you think will happen? Do you still not trust me? I mean really? What could happen?” 

“Can you chill for a second, dude?” he says, tossing the cards down and sitting up a little more. “You’re doing patter.” 

She is, he’s right. She didn’t even realize it. “Sorry.” 

“Can we just help the kid without having to make it a big psychological thing about me?” he says. “Can you just leave it alone?” 

“Not really in my nature,” she says after a second. 

Jack reluctantly smiles at that. “Yeah,” he says. “Good point. Well. Yeah, I didn’t exactly leave cuz home was so great, y’know? But that’s all you’re getting,” he says after a second. “I don’t want to talk about it.” 

That’s fair enough. Lula takes the cards from him - he lets her - and taps the deck against her palm. “Want to see me puke up this whole deck?”

“Does anyone ever say yes to that?” 

“Once. We dated for like six months. Ended weird.” She spreads the cards out into a fan. “Well, I’ll do whatever you want, with the kid. I mean God knows I’ve got exactly zero charm on a personal level, but if you think I’d help, then I’ll try.” 

Jack kinda tackles her down on the bed with both arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t say zero personal charm,” he teases her and she feels like he's going to kiss her.

“I would. You just get confused, since so much of your charisma keeps getting everywhere,” she says. “Move your hands, I’m ticklish.” 

Obligingly, Jack shifts away from her, and Lula lies on her back next to him. “What about your dad?” he says. 

“He’s fine. Normal white guy. Divorced a while back. Not a big deal. Are you concerned or something? For my well-being?” It has to sound like she’s teasing back, because neither of them are great at sincerity. But then his hand finds hers between them, and she thinks maybe that’s something they can practice. 

“Or something,” he says predictably, and squeezes her hand. 

 

 

 

Danny sticks with her the next day, at the info booth. They both know why, and yet she’s still surprised. Kinda pleasantly flattered. He’s definitely nervous. “So you’ll take the lead?” he says about six times.

“Yes. For the last time yes. You’re the fucking mastermind, you’re telling me you can’t handle a kid?” 

“I’m telling you I have no bedside manner,” Danny says. “And don’t forget our names. We don’t want to explain everything to him.” 

“I’m not an idiot, Danny. Jacob. But we can call it a nickname at worst.” 

“Yeah, you could talk your way out of a paper bag,” he tells her. 

“Where does everyone get this misconception of me?” she demands, and then Danny looks over at her in surprise and confusion. 

“Seriously?” he begins, and she’s all set to rebut when she realizes the kid is right fucking in front of them, walking up.

“‘Scuze me, ma’am?” he says. “Uh, I was here yesterday.” 

“I remember you,” she says patiently. Jack was right; he’s got a pretty big black eye that he’s trying to pretend he doesn’t have. “You looking for a job, then?”

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Well, I’m sure we’ve got something. Dan- Jacob, where’s that roster at?” 

“I’ll get it.” Danny flees.

Lula stares at Tyler while he avoids her gaze and scratches the back of his head. “Hey,” she says. “You gonna get weird if I say we should get that covered up?” 

“Why would I get weird?” he says, already getting weirder.

“Good,” she says firmly. “When Jacob gets back we’re going to the bathroom. I’ve got stuff in my purse.” 

Tyler kinda frowns, and she thinks she knows that look. He’s looking for the angle, but he doesn’t say anything. He keeps quiet more than anything else, and that’s a quality she can appreciate. She likes it. Even though his clothes are old, faded, and vaguely dusty. He’s tanned, been outside a lot, and his hair is a little too long. 

“So how long you’ve been in town?” she asks. 

“A couple days.” 

“Where were you before here?” 

“About four hours south, somewhere,” he says. “Don’t really know. Are ya’ll from around here?” 

“Not quite.” 

He takes the hint and doesn’t ask another question. Danny’s back just a second after that. “Okay so we have two options for you,” he says. “But janitor is a subpar one, I think, so I’d probably recommend the barn. Are you any good with animals?”

“Yes sir, I love animals,” Tyler nods. She can’t tell if that’s a lie. 

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna stay here to cover the desk,” Danny says. He holds onto the back of the chair kind of anxiously. “Can you take him over and show him around?” 

“Me?” He nods. “Fuck, Danny. Jacob. Whatever, I’ll do it,” she changes her mind, because if she can’t keep his fucking name straight what’s the point of arguing. “Watch my bag.” 

“Okay.” 

Tyler avoids direct eye-contact, but he’s definitely trying to look at her when she’s not watching. Lula catches his eye on accident, and he kinda startles. “Well, c’mon kiddo,” she says. “We’re going.”

“Yes ma’am.” He falls into step next to her. Tall for a kid, he walks fast and he even seems pretty cheerful about it. She catches a trace of a smile on his face when he doesn’t think she’s looking. 

“So what happen to your make from yesterday?” she asks, just to see. Jack said he wouldn’t tell the truth.

Tyler shrugs. “Nothin’.” 

“So why are you back the next day?” 

“Just… still need money,” he says awkwardly. She would’ve known that was a lie even without Jack following the kid home to tell her. 

“Alright. Is your name really Tyler?” 

“Yeah? Yes ma’am.” 

“Right. Well, I mean if there’s any warrant out for you or your family in any state, it might be best for you to use a different name. Just call yourself Tye instead or something, so you don’t have to remember anything.”

“You using a fake name?” he asks curiously. 

“No,” she says, knee-jerk. But then she adds more, for believability. “I did before though. My… my brother was a compulsive liar, I learned some tricks from him.” 

She pulls him closer with an arm around his shoulders when they’re in the barn. “Hey,” she says. “Keep an eye out, not everybody is as honest as you were, trying to get money out of people. And stop getting offended about me saying that.” 

“Alright. I don’t have anything on me to take, though.”

“You bring a lunch?” 

“No.” 

Lula sighs. “Okay. Well we’ll figure that out, but you should bring a lunch. Y’think you can do that?” 

“Yeah.”

At least he’s dropped the ma’am shit. “Alright. Hey, Tony,” she says, spotting the manager. “I’ve got someone to fill in for Carrie. This is Tye, he’s a friend’s kid.” 

Tony looks like a policeman and a cowboy had a baby. Very straight-laced, and handsome as hell. “Oh yeah?” he says. “How old are you, son?” 

“I’m fifteen,” he says. 

Shit that’s young. 

“Well, you’ve got to sign some wavers for liability, in case you get kicked by a horse or something. But you shouldn’t have any problems like that if you’re smart. Nobody’s going to have time to treat you special, alright?” 

Tye nods quickly. “Yes sir, that’s no problem. I’m a hard worker.” Lula nods too, to back him up. 

“Alright. Here.” Tony hands him a clipboard. “I’ll be by the horses for when you’re done. Bring it to me, and we’ll put you to work.” 

“Okay. Thank you.” Tyler - Tye - takes it. 

“Hold it,” Lula says after Tony walks away. “Let me look at that, we aren’t going to let you get killed over this.” She looks through the sheets; it’s just stuff about not suing if an animal hurts him or he falls out of the loft. It’s alright. She hands it back to him. “Alright. Sign.”

He obeys. He holds the pen weird; she wonders how well he can read, if he’s been working since twelve. “We’ll come get you around lunch,” she says when he’s done signing. “Go take that to Tony. If you need anything, you know where I am.” 

“Yeah, I will. Thank you.” 

“Yep.” 

On her walk back, she has to wonder about her use of the plural pronoun. Since when does she count on Jack to be a we? It’s too much. She’s suspicious of herself. And yet. 

Jack gets her for lunch around the usual time, just kinda showing up at the table and standing there until she notices him. “Hey,” she says. 

“Hiya.” Unusually brief, for him. And then he looks everywhere but at her as she’s getting up. 

“Y’alright?” she asks.

“Yeah.” He takes her hand, like that’ll convince her. She doesn’t let go, but she remains unconvinced. 

“We have to get the kid,” she says. “He doesn't have food.” 

“Okay.” 

So they aren’t talking. Well, she probably doesn’t need to talk about them not talking. But it’s Jack, all he does is talk shit, so this is unusual. Notable. “Dude,” she says. “Tell me one more time you’re okay?” 

“Lu, I’m a hundred percent fine,” he says. “I’m tired.” 

“Okay, okay. I get it. Just checking.” She squeezes his hand. 

Jack squeezes back, and then, as they’re walking in the barn, he puts his arm around her shoulders and kisses the side of her head. “Told the taco stand girl you’re my girlfriend,” he says. 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah. So y’know. Act like it.” 

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she tells him. “And I can walk, by the way.” 

“Right, right.” He lets her go and grabs her hand again anyways. And shit, maybe they are really dating. Kinda. Who the fuck knows. 

“Oh and Tyler’s Tye now,” she adds, and then they find him. He’s brushing a beautiful brown horse. Looks obvious that he’s been working hard. 

“Hey kid,” Jack says loudly. “C’mon.” He sounds tired, now that she’s looking for it. She lets go of his hand to get the aspirin out of her purse. 

Tye jogs over. “Yeah?”

“Lunch,” Lula says. “Hey honey, take these.” She gives Jack three, and he swallows them dry. 

“Thanks.”

“Yep.” 

“What’s lunch?” Tye says. He sounds a lot brighter than this morning. 

“It’s tacos,” Lula says. “This way.” 

“Okay.” Tye falls into step on her other side.

They’re quiet until they get to the taco stand, when Jack turns on the charm. Lula does it too, she guesses, but she didn’t think anything of it until she catches Tye giving her a look as they eat. “What?” she says. 

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Jack says. “Spit it out.”

“Nothing,” Tye repeats. “It’s just… are you two…?” 

“Yep.” Jack takes a sip of his Coke. 

Lula frowns at him. “Hold on. I’d like to know what question you think you’re answering there, buddy,” she says.

Jack raises his eyebrows at her and takes a big bite. So no answer. Or no question. No answer about the question. 

“What were you asking?” Lula says to Tye. 

Tye grins through the bite he’s chewing. “I was asking if you two’re related.” 

“Oh shit no,” Jack says immediately. Lula snorts - kinda gross if she does say so herself. Makes him laugh, though, and Tye keeps smiling. 

“What did you think you were answering?” he asks Jack. 

Jack shrugs. “How do we look related?” he says. “Brown hair?” 

“Kinda,” Tye says. There’s more, of course, there’s the way they move, Lula’s sure, from the magician thing. And they’re pretty friendly now, so there’s probably that too, overwhelming the fact that they don’t look alike at all.

“Well, no,” Lula says. “Not at all related. Just… y’know.” 

“Y’know,” Jack repeats, nudging her arm. 

She suspects neither of them know what they actually mean. “Hey, Tye,” she says. “We can get you lunch every day if you need it.”

Tye shoots a quick look up at her, evaluating. “Yeah?” he says. 

“Sure. If you need the money for something else, or.” Or if his dad takes it, or if he’s a sixteen year old kid with no way to get himself to a grocery store. 

“Okay. Thank you, ma’am.”

“Stop with that,” Lula rolls her eyes. “You can call me-“

“Lilith,” Jack says. 

Lula nods. “Yeah. Lu for short.” 

“Okay. Thank you, both,” Tye says awkwardly. “I, uh. Really appreciate how much you’re doing for me. I can pay you back.” 

“No need,” Jack says. “We’ve got more than enough. Don’t sweat it. And hide your money somewhere good. In your sock, or something. So he can’t shake you down and find it.” 

Tye looks at Jack sharply, pretty clearly alarmed that they’re onto him. Which, they are. But he doesn’t need to worry about that. “Uh. Yeah, alright. Thanks.” 

“Yep.” Jack holds up Lula’s wallet with his free hand. 

She genuinely didn’t feel him take it. “Shit,” she says. “Well.” In return, she puts his necklace on the table, the thin chain he’s always wearing. “Still warm.” 

Jack grins. “Fuck you. Put it back on.” 

“C’mere.” He does obligingly, and she clasps the chain around his neck again. He tucks it under his shirt. 

Danny comes over when they’re almost done eating, sitting on her other side, and Lu greets him with a high five, just because it confuses him. “Hey,” she says. “How’s it going?” 

“You saw me twenty minutes ago,” he says patiently. 

“Alright. Get pedantic.” 

“Pedantic is his middle name,” Jack says. “His parents have a gift for naming. And like, prophecy. They knew.” 

Danny’s smiling. “They say I came out holding a dictionary.” He’s getting better at being self-deprecating. It’s fun.

“Where’s Mer?” she says. 

“Working. What do you guys want for dinner?” 

“I want a kitchen,” Lula says. “To make my own dinner.” 

“You cook?” Danny asks curiously. 

“Yeah, moderately. Not terribly. The real question is, would I share.” 

“You’d better.” Jack sounds casual, nudging her leg under the table. “I like lasagna.” 

“You like everything, bozo.” 

He smiles at that, no comeback. They’ve gotten so much better at calm silences, and they’re having one right now. Just sitting, eating together. Even Danny lets it be. 

When they’re standing up to throw away their trash, Jack stops Lula in her tracks with a hug. Like a real, deep hug with his head down on her shoulder, and Lula hugs him back after a second. “Hey, everything okay?” she says with a frown. 

“Yep,” he says, and she thinks it’s a lie. So she hugs him tighter, and she kisses the side of his head now, turnabout being fair play and all that. 

“Tell me if you need more aspirin, kiddo.” 

“I will.” He pats her back and lets go.

Tye’s watching them, though he looks away immediately when she catches him. Lula’s not mad. She just honestly wonders what he sees. 

 

 

 

She calls her mom after their luggage comes and she has her laptop. They always set up calls via Etsy; two burners and a code make things safer. Danny watches the whole thing with a kind of bemused curiosity, Merritt stays out of the room, and Jack pretends he’s not watching at all. 

“Hey, sweetheart, where is it this time?” Mom answers the phone. 

“Montana. Not too crazy. How are things with you?” She’s taking the call outside, leaning against the wall.

“Oh, I’m just fine, dear. I’ve started knitting while I watch Netflix. You want an afghan?” 

“Sure,” Lula says. “Send me a message when it’s done, I’ll get you a PO box.” 

“Alright. What else do you need? A care package? What kind of food do they have there?” 

“Normal food, Mom,” Lula smiles. “We’re still in America. But whatever you want to send, I’ll eat. Or we will.” 

“Oh? And who’s we?” Mom’s trying very hard to sound casual. 

Lula’s still smiling, despite herself, because Mom has no idea but she’s actually closer to right than she probably thinks. “Y’know those guys I did the big trick with?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Well, we’re still hanging out together. Jack, Danny, Merritt and me.”

“Oh? That Jack boy looks nice, how’s he?” 

“He’s a lot younger than me, is how he is. And I’m not looking anyways. They’re all nice guys, you’d like them.” 

“Oh would I. They seem like a couple of con artists.” 

“You say that like I’m not a con artist.” 

“Well, you’re respectable,” Mom says. “Tell me how you did the dove trick.”

Lula tells her. She always does, magician’s code be damned. And at the end of the conversation, she puts her mom on speaker and lets her say hi to the guys. 

“She’s so normal,” Jack says after they’ve hung up and destroyed her phone. “How’d she have you?” 

“Rude.” Lula slaps his arm. “Fuck you.” 

He darts away smiling and comes back to hug her and pick her up. Apparently that’s a thing they do now, not that Lula particularly objects. It’s just it feels alarmingly like he’s falling in love with her, and she’s not into that shit at all. 

“Hey,” Jack says when they’re getting in bed together. “Since we’ve heard nothing from Dylan, you think we could get somewhere else to stay?” 

Atlas is in the bed next to them. “Sure,” he says. “We make enough. Two bedrooms enough?” 

“Fuck yeah.” Jack turns onto his stomach to sleep. “We aren’t picky.” He scoots closer until she puts her arm over his back. “Really, though,” he says. “She sounds nice.” 

“She is nice.” 

“Sounds like she loves you.”

“She does,” Lula says after a second. Didn’t think about that being unusual. 

“If we have a house, maybe Tye could spend a night on the couch,” Jack says after a second. “What do you think?” 

“Sure,” Lula says. “Ask the guys, I guess.” 

“Yeah.” 

She falls asleep scratching his hair, wakes up holding him even closer. They get dressed next to each other. She does her makeup while he leans on the counter and practices shuffles. They sit in the back seat on the drive to work together, his head on her shoulder, walk in holding hands. So she really shouldn’t be so surprised that Tye asks them, “So are you in love, or something?” 

Jack looks at her, face blank. “No?” he says. “Right?” 

“Yeah,” Lula says. “We’re friends. We pretend sometimes. But that’s all.” 

“Totally,” Jack says. But he holds her hand under the table, and she doesn’t stop him. So who knows. 

 

 

 

Her mom’s care package comes about a week later. She doesn’t open it right away. Danny found them a house, and moving in is a bit of a process. It’s a little further away, three bedrooms and a brown patch of yard. Nobody has to ask who’s sharing, apparently; Jack walks into her room the first night, and that’s that. 

She opens it, finally, three days after she gets it. There’s a large afghan - double sized, which definitely isn’t some kind of message or anything - and cookies, a couple packs of novelty-themed cards, and fresh fake blood capsules. Mom sent a note, too, which Lula sets on the nightstand because she doesn’t want to read it just yet. She opens the afghan first, spreading it out over the bed. It’s black and red and purple; Mom’s smart about magician branding. 

“Nice,” Jack says when he comes into the room. “From your mom?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Cool.” He flops down on the bed and shuts his eyes. “Y’sharing?”

Lula rolls her eyes and throws part of it over him. “Bed already?” 

Jack shrugs. His eyes are already shut, cheek smushed into the pillow. Lula checks her phone; it’s past eleven. She lost track of time while unpacking. “C’mere,” he says.

She sighs deeply and turns off the light, then rolls over and puts her arm around him again. “Y’okay?” she asks. 

“Yeah.” 

“Y’sure about that, sweetheart?” 

“Yeah.” He doesn’t sound sure. 

She ends up scratching his hair comfortingly, just for a second at first and then for longer, because he seems like he needs it. It’s so quiet she can almost hear his heartbeat. Almost. 

“I wanna meet your mom,” he finally says. 

“You will.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, I’m basically counting on it at this point. Once we’re not on the run. I mean you’re family.” 

“Fucking hope so, by now,” he murmurs, and she kinda rolls her eyes at him again. He’s getting territorial about her family. Adorable.

“Hey,” she says. “You got anybody for me to meet?”

“Nope. Can we sleep?” 

“Fine. Yes. We’re sleeping, mister emotional immaturity.”

“Fuck you, babe.”

One day, he’s going to say he loves her instead, and then she’s not going to know quite what to do. 

 

 

 

 

“We have been here,” Merritt checks the calendar, “Six weeks and three days. And is there any sign of the Fed?”

“No,” Jack says obligingly. He’s eating eggs because he doesn’t do cereal. 

“No!” Merritt agrees. “Not one sign. We have been abandoned, to work at this shitty godforsaken fair for the whole summer. What about when they close in August, huh? What then?” 

“Then we use our wiles,” Lula grins. “New job. At the mall or something. Small-time shit, we’ll make minimum wage or some shit and we’ll be just fine.” 

“I’m working on something,” Danny says. 

“Well how long until that pans out, huh? I mean at least last time, we were lying low in relative wealth. We were comfortable.” Merritt huffs into his coffee. “I mean what the fuck, Dylan, really.” 

“Well,” Jack says. “At least you’re doing what you’re good at. The rest of us are pretending to go straight.” 

“That won’t last much longer, if you two keep showing off how well you can steal things off each other,” Danny says. 

Lula holds up Jack’s wallet. “Y’know maybe I should just hold onto this permanently,” she says. “Seems like it might be safer.” 

Jack shrugs. “Fine.” 

He doesn’t take it back, so she puts it in her pocket. And that’s how she ends up paying for everybody’s lunch. 

Tye’s friendly with them now; he smiles when he sees them for lunch. “Thanks,” he says when she hands him his food. 

“Get napkins,” she answers, and he obeys.

“Yeah, thanks,” Jack says, taking his plate from her. He glances at Tye. “Her mom knitted her a fucking afghan, y’know that? Why don’t you knit?” he asks her. 

“Because I’m not a grandma, honey. You want a blanket, ask my mom.” 

Jack shakes his head. “I want mittens.”

“I can talk to her about it.”

“Fuck yeah.” He turns and kisses her. It’s over even before she registers what’s happening, and then they don’t even talk about it. Tye apparently thinks it’s normal, and Jack isn’t even phased. He’s completely cool about it, and cool for them is kind of alarmingly romantic, now that she thinks about it. He kissed her. 

He kisses her again that night. They’re sitting in bed, and he kisses her like, for realsies. So to ruin the mood, she pops one of the blood capsules in her cheek and pretends he bit her lip. 

It works for three seconds. It probably says more about her than him that he recognizes the taste of fake blood. He pulls back smiling. “What the fuck,” he says. “What are you doing? Y’know you could say no.” 

“I know,” she says. “But I think the real question is, what are _you_ doing?” 

He shrugs. “Isn’t it nice?” 

“Sure. But I thought you didn’t want to be with me.” 

“I don’t,” he says, looking her in the eyes. “You?” 

“No,” she says firmly. “Not at all.” Hopefully that gets the message through. 

Jack shrugs. “So what’s the problem?” 

If she’s being honest, there is no problem. But she doesn’t know if she believes him. “Dunno,” she says. “Just checking.”

“Oh my God, Lu. How am I giving you the opposite talk I’ve had to give everyone else?” Jack sighs. “C’mon. It’s not like that. Can’t we just…” 

She doesn’t know. She really doesn’t. “Can we just go to bed?” 

“Yeah,” he says. “Sure.” But they don’t sleep, they just lie next to each other in the darkness.

“Y’know, Mom always said abused kids slept on their stomachs,” Lula says impulsively, as she thinks of it. And also to make him uncomfortable.

Jack makes a big deal of turning onto his back. “If I wanted you to be my shrink, I’d ask,” he says. “I’m really not interested in telling anybody my whole life story, alright. It’s not personal.” 

“Look, you can’t expect me to give up. Fuck, I know more about Danny than I do about you. And he’s not a talker. Don’t tell me the big stuff, if you don’t want to. But your favorite color should not be a closely-guarded secret.” 

He rolls closer, and she feels his cheek on her shoulder. “Favorite color’s red. And silver. And I’ll talk if you stop trying to give me fucking therapy.” 

“Deal. So are you too young to remember floppy disks?” 

“I’m five years younger than you,” he says. “Not a teenager.” 

“Y’look like a teenager.” 

Jack kisses her arm, and then he turns over and falls asleep, just like that. Safe to say, Lula is very, very worried. 

 

 

 

“You don’t have to run interference for me,” Danny says after the customers walk away. 

“Look, it doesn’t do me any harm,” she shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. And since you’ve got OCD-“

“I would really prefer you not mention that aloud,” he says. “Given that you’re basically the only person in this life who knows. And it’s not even severe.” 

“Funny how mild mental illness is still mental illness, and hard to deal with,” she says under her breath. “Just a thought.” 

Danny smiles, as much as he doesn’t want to. “Okay,” he says. “Well thank you. But I’ll survive either way. Is my point.” 

“Okay. Yeah. We pretty much have surviving covered. That’s like, what we do.” 

“True.” 

“Maybe we’ll live here forever,” she says kinda absently. “Or on the run, I mean. Better together. Not a whole lot we want to go back to.” 

“Well you've got your mom,” he says. “I mean. Right? Unless you don’t want to go back for personal reasons.”

“I’m fine going back, but people would talk if I brought all three of you to live here. And someone would probably put the dots together.” 

“Okay?” 

“Okay, so I’m not going to leave you. C’mon.” She immediately rethinks. “I mean fuck, unless you want me to go. Boys night. Or, months.” 

“No,” Danny says. “That’s not what I was saying.” 

“I could go,” she says. “Honestly, I can leave. If this is coming from Jack-“

“Why would this be coming from Jack?” 

She trapped herself, there. Idiot. “I’m only saying this if you promise your mastermind-ness comes with a decent concept of what privacy and need-to-know basis mean.” 

“Are you asking me if I can keep a secret?” Danny says patiently. 

“Well when you say it like that, it sounds stupid,” she sighs. 

“Well. It is stupid. But I can keep a secret, yes.” 

Lula considers briefly, just one more second before she gives in. “Alright,” she says. “Well. I think Jack’s falling in love with me.” 

“Jack.” Danny says. “Jack? Jack.” 

“Stop repeating Jack,” Lula says flatly. “Jesus.” 

“You think Jack? Is in love. With you.” Danny still sounds ridiculously skeptical. Offensively so. 

“Daniel. I mean Jacob. I’m not a fucking idiot. He’s all over me, and he’s started kissing me.” 

“What do you mean, he’s all over you? The two of you are attached at the hip. Do you not like it?” Danny asks. 

“I'm not like, morally opposed. Or opposed in any other way. But I don’t want to freaking marry him. Or even like, date him. I’m not that kind of person, I’ve never been much into like… romance. Or that shit.” She sounds grumpy, she knows it, but she actually is grumpy, too. 

“Okay. What evidence do you have that he is?” 

Lula narrows her eyes. “Go on.” 

“Well if you were any other two people, you would be dating. Right?”

"Yeah." 

"But has he asked you?” 

“No.” 

“And you haven’t asked him either. So why do you think he secretly wants it? I mean I’m no relationship expert, but why isn’t this working?” 

Lula kinda sighs, and looks out across the fairgrounds for a second. “I don’t know,” she says. “I mean, what are the odds? Isn’t it more likely that he’s harboring some kinda…” 

Danny pretends to have an idea. “Oh. Crazy thought. Talk to him?” 

“Okay, fuck you, first of all. Second, have you ever tried to talk to Jack? It’s like trying to nail jello to a tree.”

That makes him snort. “Well. Just try it.” 

She nods, glances over at him. “You aren’t in love with me, are you?” 

“Unfortunately not.” 

“Sad for both of us,” she agrees. “Hey, I got a new trick. It involves a-“

Now is not the destined time for Danny to learn what the trick entails, apparently, because they’re interrupted. Technically he interrupts her, actually. “Tye?” he frowns, and she follows his gaze. 

Fuck. Tye’s got more than the usual black eye. There’s a lump on his jaw, blood in his hair, and he is definitely limping. “Are they going to fire me, cuz I know I’m late,” he says. “Couldn’t walk here any quicker.”

“They will not fire you,” Danny says. “I’ll tell them you were injured, I’ll take care of it.” And he splits, like gets up and almost runs away. 

“He’s not very comfortable with emotions,” Lula says. “Like anger or sympathy.” 

It’s a joke that doesn’t land; Tye sniffs, wipes his nose and she spots blood. Fuck, he’s really hurt. “Hey,” she says. “What’s wrong with your leg?” 

“Ankle. Sprained.” 

“Okay. Sit down, honey, it’s alright.” Lula takes Danny’s chair so Tye can sit in hers, and she roots around under the table for the first aid kit. “Hey,” Lula says. She dusts off her best comforting patter. “Tye. Tyler, whatever you’d like to be called right now, you’re gonna be just fine. We’ve got this. You’re sitting down, we’re gonna fix it and you’re going to be okay.” 

It works too well. She spots tears. He’s definitely crying, and she feels kinda triumphant but also like shit. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay,” she says. She settles on his hair as a safe place to put her hand, and she can feel him shaking. And then she actually thinks about what it’d be like to get beat to hell and then walk however many miles to work.

“You’re safe here,” she says. “You’re okay, we’ve gotcha. Okay? You wanna just take some deep breaths and try to relax? I’m gonna take care of this.” She calls Jack, actually, because they’re better as a team. “Hey babe? We’ve got a problem, can you get here right now?” 

“I’m there,” Jack says, and hangs up. 

Lula opens the first-aid kit, but before any of that she gives him some tissues. “Get that off your face,” she says. “Allergic to anything? I’ve got narcotics.” 

“Don’t think so.” 

She gives him Oxy, which is probably technically a felony but no one's counting. “What happened?” she says. 

“Nothin’. Just…” 

After too long of a pause, “Okay. Okay, no details. It’s fine. Any broken bones?” 

“No. I know how to take a fall, Lu,” he says flatly. She finds it inappropriately hilarious, but saves it for later. She’ll come back to that. 

“Good. Good start. Y’think you’re concussed?” 

“What’s that mean?” 

“Okay. We’ll come back to that too. Lemme see your ankle.” 

He pulls up his pant leg and shows her something that looks puffy and not at all like an ankle. Lula’s trying to figure out how the fuck to tell him that she doesn’t know what to do with that when Jack jogs up. 

“Hey,” he says. 

“Hi,” she says awkwardly. “Help me.” 

Jack comes behind the table and takes Tye in with a look. “Hi dude,” he says, preposterously casual. She loves that. “Sprained ankle?” 

“Yep,” Tye says. 

Jack digs around in the first-aid kit and pulls out ace bandages. “Did she give you something for the pain?” he asks. 

“Yep.” 

“Good. This will hurt.” Jack kneels down and then quickly, he takes off Tye’s shoe and wraps Tye’s ankle tightly. It definitely hurts; she has trouble watching it, but Jack isn’t fazed. “You’ll be able to walk on this,” he says. “What hurts next?” 

Tye rolls up a bloody sleeve and shows them a really sizable cut on his arm that really has her curious about why it wasn’t first on his list of emergency injuries. “Think it needs stitches,” he says. 

“Nope. Sutures will be fine, it’s not deep,” Jack says, unworried. “I’m gonna have Danny get you some Gatorade or something, you have a favorite color?” 

“No,” Tye says. “Thank you.” 

“Yep.” Jack gets out his phone and calls him right then. “Hey man. Bring some kind of sports drink or something for the kid. Yeah, sure. Okay. Bye.” He hangs up. “Lu, help me out.” 

 

 

 

Maybe it’s wrong, but all she can do is try not to think about how Jack was her first thought. Granted, he’s the one who knew what to do. But she didn’t even think about calling anyone else. And he came running, literally. It’s pretty fucking real, whatever the fuck they have. 

They take Tye home with them that night. Their house is like a foreign concept to him; he just kind of looks at everything, and then he curls up on the couch and falls asleep around eight. 

Jack is in their room after her. “Hey,” he says, and he hugs her. Sneaks up on her as she’s half in, half out of her sweater. She hugs back. 

“Hi,” she says into his shoulder. “Y’alright?” 

“Can you not ask me that for just a second?” Doesn’t sound like he’s joking. So she gives up on the sweater and tightens her grip on his shoulders. 

“Sorry I care,” she mumbles, but she’s not sorry. Belatedly, she also realizes that Jack’s getting pretty familiar with her tits right now. But he doesn’t seem to care, so she doesn’t make a big deal of it either. She kisses his cheek when they let go. 

“He finally got to sleep,” Jack says. “We’ll figure out whatever else tomorrow. Might stay longer.” 

“Okay.” 

There’s more he wants to say, but he doesn’t seem to be able to get anything out. Lula pulls her sweater on the rest of the way and changes out of her jeans. Jack changes too. Drops the leather jacket in a chair, and his body language softens. 

“Jack, honey,” she says, sitting on the edge of the bed, and leaves it at that when she thinks better of it. He’ll tell her if he wants her to know something, as he keeps telling her, and she can take a hint. Eventually.

Jack kicks off his pants and crawls into bed with her. He curls up against her arm until Lula wraps it around him, and then he doesn’t move for a long time. “It’s probably pathetic,” he says. “But I think you’re my best friend.” 

“Super pathetic. Me too, with you, though. We spend basically all of our time together, so. Makes sense, though. And I am pretty cool best friend material, if I do say so myself.” 

“Oh do you,” he says with a smile in his voice. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“You’d better, babe.” She runs her fingers through his hair. “You think he should see a doctor or something tomorrow?” 

“Nah, I’ve survived worse. He’ll be fine in like a week.” He pauses. “Good job, by the way. Y’didn’t jump on that.”

“I’m learning,” she smiles down at him. 

“Yeah, me too,” he says under his breath. 

He kisses her before she turns the lights out, and she’s worried but not too much. Not enough to stop him. She loves him so much more than she’s willing to sacrifice just because he might be in love with her. She’ll stop it somehow. They’ll stay best friends. 

She’s half woken up by a knock on the door, Tye at their door. Jack says something, they talk and then she feels Jack shuffling closer to her. She’s pretty sure Tye’s getting in bed with them, but she feels Jack against her back and just kinda assumes this can wait till morning. So she goes back to sleep. 

Jack’s tucked against her side when she wakes up, still dozing until she wakes him up by moving. He’s a light sleeper. “Hey sweetie,” he says sleepily. 

“Hello.”

“Kid couldn’t sleep, hope it’s okay.” 

“You kidding? It’s fine. We were sharing a room with Merritt like two months ago. This is a step up.” 

He takes her hand in his and rests it on her stomach. “We need to practice again,” he says. “Getting rusty.” 

“Me too. We can go this weekend.” 

“Okay.” Jack yawns. “You wanna make me coffee? And not because you’re a girl or the new guy but because you make the best coffee.” 

She grins. “Well, since you put it that way, sweetheart, I might even bring you some when it’s done. Get up and moving, we still have work.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m up.” He sits up to prove it, and she does too, stretching her arms and cracking her neck. “Did you restart the dryer last night?” 

“Yep. Y’need something?” 

“T-shirt.” 

“Okay.” 

Merritt’s in the kitchen, coffee already made, complaining loudly. “I mean, what if we kill the kid’s dad? Who would mourn him.” 

“Can’t actively committee a murder, old man. The laws have changed since you were born,” she says brightly. 

Danny seems more concerned with particulars. “We wouldn’t get away with it.” 

“We could,” Lula says. “If we try. But we’re not murderers.” 

“Right,” Merritt says. “We’re magicians. We could make him disappear.” 

 

 

 

 

Jack still runs most nights, Lula walks sometimes, and tonight he finds his way to her for the last couple miles. He takes her hand, and she brings their linked hands up to kiss his. “We should talk,” she says. 

“Uh oh. Well that’s usually not good.” 

“No. Not usually. This time it should be fine, though.”

“Lay it on me, baby,” he says, unconcerned. 

She’s nervous. Stage fright, kinda. She says it, though. “Jack, I’m worried that… well. That you’re unclear on what we are.” 

“So what are we?” Still casual. 

“Not romantic.” 

Jack snorts. “Oh. Yeah, I know.” 

“Well, you do an awful lot of romantic shit for someone who knows.” 

“Just me? Takes two to hold hands,” he says, squeezing hers. 

“Yeah. But I’m doing this as a friend, not as somebody who’s falling in love with you,” she says. 

Jack smiles at her. “Me too. Okay? Can you believe me?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Lu,” he sighs. “Look. I’m gonna say it, and you’re gonna chill out about this before anything else happens. I love you. But I’m not in love with you. Alright? Can we move on?” 

“Can we move on and be friends who sleep in the same bed, hold hands, and kiss occasionally? Just to be clear.”

“Sure yeah. I mean it works, doesn’t it? You’re having a good time.”

“Yeah, I’m… yes,” she says, in a little bit of disbelief. “Huh. Well. What about platonic sex?” she says, mostly teasing. 

Jack shrugs. “I’m down if you are.” 

“And you’re a hundred percent sure that you won’t want to marry me, or…” 

“Were you scarred by some kind of marriage proposal gone wrong, or something? Why the fuck are you so scared?” 

Lula laughs. “No big scare. I just like you. Don’t want to ruin it.” 

“Well don’t worry about it.” 

“Yeah? We’re safe to play house?” She’s joking. 

He likes it, he’s smiling. “Yeah, we are. Will you relax now?” 

“I’m officially relaxed. There is nothing you could do to make me think you’ll ever be romantically interested in me. We’re platonic forever. You could get me pregnant and we’d raise the child as friends. Is that chill enough for you?” 

“That is perfect, sweetheart,” Jack says, and he kisses her. He’s kind of disgustingly sweaty, but she doesn’t really mind. 

“What the fuck am I going to tell my mom?” Lula says after a few steps, and Jack laughs out loud, hardest she’s ever heard. 

“I don’t care,” he says. “Tell her we’re dating, if it’d be easy. Or we can relax with that stuff if you don’t want to get her hopes up. Really, this doesn’t have to be a big thing.” 

“You’re a good guy,” she says. “No matter how you got here, you’ve turned out good. And I love you too.” 

“Big moment,” Jack deadpans. “I’ll try not to be scared of the commitment.” 

She punches him in the arm. “Be scared of this, asshole,” she says cheerfully, and she doesn’t protest when he grabs her hand back. They’re relaxed. It’s all good. 

Tye’s at the house when they get back. He’s there most days, they’re probably going to have to talk about that at some point. “Hey,” he says. “Merritt and Danny went out.” 

“Cool.” Jack goes to the kitchen and Lula follows him. She watches him take a long drink, and she decides she wants one too. “Hey,” Jack says while she's drinking, and he holds up her phone. “Didja feel that?” 

“Nope,” she grins. “Nice.” 

“Awesome.” He’s so pleased with himself. “I think this means dibs on shower.” 

“Take your fucking dibs, go.” She takes her phone back and pushes him towards the door. “Go fast, though.” 

“Alright.” He’s still smiling. 

Lula heads back out to the living room to keep Tye company. “Hey,” she says, sitting down next to him on the couch. “What are we watching?” 

“Some show about cops, dunno,” he says. He shifts a little, crossing his arms over his chest. They still make him nervous in close quarters. “You went for a run?” 

“Nah, Jack did. I just walk most of the time. He’s got his whole vibe to maintain, with the tight shirts, and the leather jackets.” No laugh at that prime comedy. Tye’s apparently not much of a joking guy. Or really, honestly more likely, he has no idea how to talk to her. “So, uh. How are you doing?” 

“Fine.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” 

Kids are weird. She’s terrible at talking to them, apparent personal charm be damned. Lula decides to resign herself to the silence, and she picks up a deck of cards off the side table and shuffles them. She’s not as good at card tricks as Jack, probably never will be, but a girl can try. This girl should probably start with a normal shuffle, considering how poorly cards and her hands get along. 

“Can I ask y’something?” Tye says. 

“Sure.” 

“Why d’ya’ll have so many playing cards?” Tye says. 

Lula is torn between bewilderment and absolute amusement. A nearly perfect un-answerable question. What a fucking puzzle. Where’s Atlas when she needs him. “Uh. Hobby,” she begins lamely. “Jack was really into magic, in high school, and Atlas can count cards, like in blackjack, y’know?” 

“No.” 

“He can keep track of what cards have been dealt in a card game, so he can make better bets and win, basically. He’s banned from Vegas.” That’s probably not the best explanation, the truth. It lets Danny be too interesting to be working at a small-town fair. Fuck, fuck. She’s not great at the lying. 

“Oh. Well what about Marilyn, or Merritt. Whatever y’wanna call him. How’s he do those hypnotization tricks?” 

“They’re just that,” Lula lies. “Tricks, it’s not real. People are pretty gullible. Especially people that show up for a hypnotization show. And Mer’s pretty convincing.” They need to be better about keeping his name straight.

“Well, how come you and Jack keep stealing stuff off each other?” 

Danny said this would bite them in the ass. Shit. “Uh, just for fun. We found this how-to for pickpocketing…” It sounds like the lie it is. She is not the storyteller here, she’s a geek magician, the point is that nobody asks too many questions about the fucking story. 

“How do you know all of them?” Tye asks next. Pretty clear he’s been saving all these questions for now. 

“I met them through work,” she says, increasingly panicked. 

“Really?” 

Lula is hesitating her way to an answer when Jack comes out from the shower, toweling off his hair. “Hey,” he begins cheerfully, and then when he sees her face he adds, “what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, babe, Tye’s just asking questions. And I’m bad at explanations.” 

Jack raises his eyebrows at her; she can almost hear his voice. S _ubtle_. He plops down between them and puts his arm around her. “What questions?” 

“How we met each other. He doesn’t believe we met through work.” 

“Work,” Jack repeats. He’s going to give her shit about this. “Okay. Well, yeah. We’re all kinda drifters, and we ran into each other at a fair in Missouri. But I met Lu before anybody else.” 

She knows this looks suspicious as hell, Jack swooping in, but Tye doesn’t say anything. Seems like he’s less brave with one of the guys in the room. “Oh,” is all he says. But she doesn’t think for a second he believes them. 

After a non-suspicious amount of time has passed, she heads to the bathroom for her own shower. The bathmat is still damp, mirror fogged up. Jack drew a two of hearts in the steam. Dork. He also definitely used her conditioner even through she’s told him to just buy his own. They’re like, merging into one person in a creepy way. 

He’s in the bedroom waiting for her after. “How are you so bad at pretending to tell the truth?” he demands immediately. 

“Fuck you. Stop using my conditioner. Turn around and close your eyes.” She’s in a towel, which, as soon as he’s obeyed she throws over his head. 

“Lu, I’ve seen your boobs before,” Jack says, voice slightly muffled. 

“Well you aren’t seeing them now. I’m not the mastermind or the con artist, Jack, I’m not the one you go to when you want a fucking lie,” she grumbles, putting on underwear and a sports bra. “And neither are you, for that matter, so I don’t know why you’re so fucking uppity about it. You’re good.” 

Jack pulls the towel off his head. “Yeah, well until today I thought you could at least improv convincingly.” 

“Yeah, to a stranger,” she says, pulling a T-shirt over her head and hopping as she puts on sweatpants. “Not to a kid who’s seen shit. You know he didn’t buy any of the bullshit we said, right?” 

Jack kinda bites his lip. “We’ll cross that bridge when Danny gets back.” He watches her getting dressed. “That’s my shirt.” 

“If we’re fucked, we’ve gotta get out of here,” she says. “No waiting around. I can be packed in eight minutes. And I’m not going to jail because some kid figures it out and turns us in.” 

“We didn’t actually commit any crimes, we won’t go to jail.” 

“Wow, you’re so great at comforting,” she snaps, not mad but scared as hell. 

Jack knows her well enough to know that by now. He smiles a little, and he says, “You’re really great at panicking.” 

Lula glares at him, but there’s no real anger in it. “You should be panicking too, y’know how dangerous it’d be for you in jail?” she grumbles, coming over to sit next to him on the bed. 

“Nah, we’re not going to jail. Worst comes to worst, we can get married and flee to Ibiza, or something,” he says. “Or Rome, great for pickpockets.” 

“I guess. Kinda fond of Danny, though. Mer, too.” 

Jack wraps his arms around her and kisses her cheek. “It’s gonna be okay. I was just giving you shit, it’s fine. Can we go meet your mom first, if we’re going on the run?”

“Of course.” She hesitates. “What are we doing?” 

“Stalling,” Jack says. “They’ll be back soon. We could make out.” 

Well. While they’re waiting. 

The boys get back about ten minutes later, and she ambushes them at the front door. “We might be discovered, Tye’s asking questions, we need to figure out what to do,” she says quietly to Danny. 

He doesn’t even look surprised. “Okay. What kind of questions?” 

“Where we came from, how we know each other. The cards and hypnotization and the sleight of hand, Danny.” 

“None of us are particularly subtle in our personal lives,” he says, in a tone that’s meant to be calming. “This would probably happen sooner or later. He’s observant, too.”

Merritt looks thoughtful. “Well. Can’t hypnotize him.”

“Why would you start there,” Jack says flatly. “How is that helpful.” 

“Do you trust me?” Danny says.

“Uh, I certainly hope so, by now,” Lula says flatly. 

“Then c’mon. Everybody.” He leads the four of them into the living room. Tye tenses when he sees them, like he might want to stand up but can’t decide. “Hey,” Danny says. “We need to talk.” 

Tye doesn’t say anything. This probably seems like a very bad sign, to him. 

Danny huffs out a very soft possible laugh. “Well. Y’know how everyone here has some kind of… special skills?” 

“Yeah,” Tye decides to answer. 

“Look. We aren’t telling you everything. We’re on the run. Is that something you can be cool with?” 

Lula feels pretty severely panicked. Jack takes her hand. And Tye just nods. 

Merritt nods. “Right,” he says. “I need a drink.” 

“Me fucking too,” Jack says, and pulls her by the hand into the kitchen after Merritt. Danny comes too. And then Tye shows up in the door, looking shy. Merritt sees him and gets out another glass. 

“I don’t know if we should be supplying alcohol to minors,” Danny says. 

“If the minor is onto us, then maybe we should make an exception,” Merritt says, pouring bourbon in each glass. It’s pretty clear he’s going to give Tye one either way. 

Lula downs her glass all at once, Jack too. Danny grimaces, and does it in two attempts. Merritt has two more, and Tye just sips on his. “Fair’s over tomorrow,” Tye says. 

“Yep,” Merritt says.

“Are you leaving?” 

Jack pulls Lula into his arms. “I don’t know,” Danny says. “We need work. Can’t dip into our emergency cash.” 

“There’s that mall,” Jack says. “The one we decided not to hit cuz it was too big. Could get mall jobs.” 

“I can picture it now. Dramatic eye contact across the main hall. You work at Spencer’s, I work at Pink,” Lula says to Jack. 

He smiles. “Hey, I’m down if you are.” 

“If Dylan doesn’t get to us, that is.” 

"Where's this mall?” Tye asks. 

“Half an hour away, over west,” Danny says. “Will you be coming with us?” 

“Maybe.” Tye’s not giving away anything. Better than she did with him. Fucker.

Merritt sighs deeply and pours himself another drink. “Does this mean we can drop the bullshit names?” he says, and the other three of them panic. 

“Uh… well we can probably… yeah,” Danny says after a second, when he can’t think of anything better to say. 

“Y’weren’t too good at ‘membering them in the first place, y’know,” Tye says deadpan before breaking into a smile. 

“Never been good with a stage name,” Jack mumbles. Lula slaps his arm; ‘stage name’ is a little too much of a dead giveaway. “Well, I’m still Jack,” he says. 

“Yeah, I know. Are you really Lilith?” he asks Lula.

“Well, in a way. But as you’re aware, my friends call me Lula.” 

“What friends?” Jack demands, and then kisses her cheek. She leans back into him, kind of wanting to hurt him but also loving him. “C’mon,” he adds. “Now that we aren’t in mortal peril, let’s watch Masterchef.” 

“What is it with you guys and that show?” Lula sighs, allowing herself to be ushered towards the living room. 

“Everyday people are given the chance to compete at a professional level,” Danny says from behind Jack. “True amateurs treated like professional chefs.”

“I’ve heard the spiel. Still don’t get it.” 

Danny sits on the far side of the couch, and Lula sits next to him. Jack flops down on his back, legs over the other arm of the couch and head in her lap. Tye was following slower; he ends up on the floor by them. They watch two episodes. Lula ends up combing through Jack’s hair, and she thinks that’s probably exactly what he was betting on. 

Late that night, after Danny and Mer have gone to bed and Tye fell asleep on the floor, Jack tells her, “I really would marry you, and run away somewhere. If it ever came to that.” 

“Me too,” she finds herself saying. “Yeah.” Just the two of them, for years, on a beach somewhere. Easy forever. She really likes that. 

“I like you, y’know.”

“Yeah, I’ve cottoned on,” she teases. “Just a lil bit. Pretty fond of you too.”

He’s in an odd mood. She’s not surprised that he cuddles up to her in bed once the lights are out. “Hey sweetie,” she says. 

“Wish I had someone to introduce you to,” he says. “Cuz you’re awesome.” 

“Message received,” she says. “I’ll talk to my mom about visiting.” 

“That wasn’t the message.”

So they’re dropping the jokes. She’s not sure what to say without it. “Jack…”

“Shut up and let me tell you something.” 

All she asked for, right? But now that it’s happening she feels only vaguely panicked. “You don’t have to say anything, it’s fine.”

“Lula.” He scoots over. “I don’t have any sisters. My mom and I weren’t close. I didn’t really know any girls until you. Not for more than like, a week. So I don't know if this is a girl thing or a you thing, but nobody ever asks me the kind of shit you do and actually wants to hear.”

“Okay… kinda sexist…”

“You know what I mean.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

“I needed that. I love you,” he adds. “For being like, the first person that wanted to know.”

“The guys care too,” she says. 

“I know, but they’re not going to tell me that.” 

He has a point, as uncomfortable as it makes her to admit. “Ah,” she manages. “Okay. Well. I like being an ass and pushing you, it’s nothing too… deep. Or.”

“It doesn’t have to be deep, Lu. It’s just… it’s what I needed. And I’m trying to thank you. Are you really so bad at like, emotional conversation?”

She pokes his chest. “You’ve just decided to be good now, so get off that high horse, why don’t ya. But I suppose I… appreciate. Your point. Okay? Is that good enough for you? I’m tired.” 

“Now you’re tired. C’mere.” He turns onto his back and pulls her close. She puts her head on his chest, and he puts his arms around her. 

“I can talk to my mom, though, really,” she says after a bit. 

“Yeah, do it,” he says. 

“Okay.” 

“Will she like me?” 

“Honey. Yes. Please, can I sleep?” 

“Sorry. Yeah.” He rubs her back. 

“Hey,” she says after a second. 

“Yeah?” 

“I love you for trying. To be a good person, and to open up, and… I just. Love you. Even though I’m not exactly the best at… y’know.” 

“Talking,” Jack suggests. 

“Not being interrupted, how about.” 

“Both, evidently.” 

There's a knock on their door, and Lula says, “Yeah?” 

It’s Tye, he opens the door a little to peer in. “Hey, uh. Y’mind if I sleep in here?” he says. “Got my own blanket.”

“C’mon in,” Jack says. “Lula’s side has room.” 

Tye curls up near the edge, his back to her, and doesn’t say a word. 

“Really not good at not being interrupted,” Jack tells her. 

Lula pokes his chest. “Shut up, dork. Let’s practice tomorrow night.” 

“Okay. Your stuff or mine?” 

He’s better at geek magic and machine-making than she is with card-throwing and charm. “Yours,” she says.

“Okay, babe.”

“Y’sure you can get to sleep like this?” she asks. 

“Maybe if you ever stop talking,” he says, and kisses her hair again. 

“Watch it, mister.”

 

 

 

Lula’s quizzing Jack about con names over breakfast. “Peruvian Train Car?” 

“I’m the waiter, you’re the heiress.” 

“Cuban Sandwich?” 

“A Vegas Wakeup with the boyfriend.” 

Danny looks curious. “How’s that work?”

“No calling a trusted advisor,” Lula says, and Danny nods then. She and Jack continue. “Spanish Prisoner?” 

“Someone's rich and in jail, we need bail.” 

“Spanish Turnabout.” 

“Ends with Juan in an airport, right?” 

“Yep, good.” 

“How about a Cherry Pie?” Merritt says. 

“Apple pie no lifeguards. C’mon, that was the first one I learned.” Jack’s very smug. Merritt’s proud too. They are all. 

“Can’t believe you didn’t know these before,” Danny says. “What kind of con-“

“Con… tract work have you been doing?” Lula says loudly. Still not open about the con thing in front of the kid, who’s still staying with them more nights than not. Not that he probably couldn’t figure it out, but. 

Danny rolls his eyes, and Jack grins. “You’re getting better at that,” he says to her, pretending be patronizing. 

“I am, because I have to do it so much around all you knuckleheads.” She pours herself some coffee and refills Jack’s too, while she’s at it. And Tye holds up his, so she pours him some too, but she gives him a suspicious look. “Don’t get used to this,” she says firmly. Tye just grins, which she thinks means he's comfortable joking with her now, probably. A good step. 

“What d’you call it, what you’re doing now?” Tye says. 

“Layin' low,” Merritt says. “Going straight.” 

Tye snorts. “And what do you call what you did before?” 

“None of your business,” Danny says smoothly. 

“Hard to explain,” Jack adds. 

“Yeah, you’ve been practicing throwing cards and talking, or something? What’s that about?” Tye says. He’s getting much more annoying, now that he speaks his mind. 

“It’s not talking, it’s patter,” Jack says, and Lula smacks his shoulder. 

“Patter,” Tye repeats. “What’s that?” 

“Bring him in,” Merritt says to Danny. “It’ll be easier. I mean the questions are just the worst, I hate it. So much of his voice.” 

Danny sighs. “Fine.” 

“Cool,” Jack shrugs, and Lula nods. Tye is interested as fuck too, leaning in and looking at them all sharply. 

“We’re magicians,” Danny says. 

“Like you steal stuff?” Tye asks. 

“No. Like on a stage, nothing-up-my-sleeve shit,” Lula says. “Except for Merritt, who can convince people they’re chickens. Which seems a lot more dangerous.” 

“Only in the wrong hands, sweetheart,” he says sagely. 

Tye frowns, looking between all of them. “Magicians, really? What about the con stuff, though? And you taking Jack’s stuff.” Lula holds up Jack’s wallet. “Yeah, that, what is that?” 

“Well, magic involves a serious amount of sleight of hand,” Danny says. “And we’re kind of… on the run, in a way, and we have contingency plans on top of contingency plans, so that all kinda results in… extra-legal options.”

“We only steal from rich assholes,” Jack says plainly. “And we’re really good at it, because we make shit money doing what we actually do.” 

“Merritt, do the card trick,” Danny says.

Merritt sits down at the table. Jack gives him a deck of cards, and Mer shuffles it. “Alright,” he says. “Simple card trick. No sleight of hand.” 

“Okay.” Tye’s watching his hands intently. 

“He’s gotten all of us with this,” Lula murmurs. “Don’t worry.” 

“Alright.” Merritt sets the deck down and fans it out. “Pick a card, look at it, and set it back down.” Tye does, and Merritt cuts the deck there, setting half on top at an angle. “Okay. So you’ve picked a card. It’s red or black. Red… or black? Ah. You twitched your finger on red, is it red?” 

Tye frowns and nods, crossing his arms defensively. 

“Okay. Red, that means it has to be a diamond or heart. A diamond or heart, diamond or heart…” Merritt squints. “You’re a crafty one. But you clenched your jaw on heart, is it a heart?” 

“Yeah,” Tye says shortly. “Damn.”

“You raised your eyebrows when you saw it, so I’m guessing a face card. Jack queen king, jack queen king, jack queen king. Is it a jack?” 

“How’d you know that?” 

Merritt taps his head. Jack snorts. “It’s all micro-expressions,” he says. “Don’t believe his shit.” 

“How’d you learn it?” Tye says. 

“Not telling you, kiddo. You’re too green. Start with shuffles.”

Lula frowns. “No, don’t say that. I don’t want to have this on my conscience. We can’t spread this to the next generation.” 

“I want to learn all that stuff,” Tye protests. 

“Okay, well we all have specialities,” Danny says. “Specializing is better, so you’re reliably good at what you do most of the time. That’s why we’re a team. But magic’s not really a viable career option, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Let him see if he can shuffle,” Merritt says. “Show him the weird ones.” 

“Advanced ones,” Jack corrects. And then he spends a solid ten minutes showing Tye beginner card tricks. 

After, when Tye’s practicing, she corners Jack in the hall heading towards their bedrooms. “Hey,” she says. “Dunno if I could handle two Jack Wilders.” 

“Can’t handle one,” he says, and she rolls her eyes. 

“Alright kiddo. Sure.” She hugs him, and he squeezes her back, tight, pushing her against the wall.

Danny walks by them. “Hey,” Jack says to him. “What’d Dylan say?” 

“He’s calling tonight. But we can’t get Tye a job at the mall,” Danny says. Lula’s got the feeling he’s reading Jack’s mind again. “He’s underage. And if he shows up to a real job with bruises like he has, they’ll contact child protective services.” 

He has good points. “Shit,” Jack says. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Lula tells him. “Let Danny go do whatever he’s doing.”

Danny smiles a little, and leaves. Jack turns back to her, and wraps her in another hug. “Fuck,” he says. 

“Let’s see what Dylan says. It might not all be shit.” 

“Some fat fucking help Dylan’s been before,” Jack mumbles. “He’ll tell us to leave the kid behind.” 

“Yeah, well what did you expect? We aren’t here forever, and we can’t take him with us. He’s not leaving his dad, and I’m not doing anything for that piece of shit,” Lula adds more quietly, in case anyone’s listening.

“But if we leave…”

Lula frowns a little, tries to catch Jack’s eye but he won’t look at her. “Jack, we were always gonna leave.”

Jack doesn’t acknowledge that, even though it’s undeniably the truth. He untangles himself from her and walks away without another word, not like he's pissed but definitely not happy about this. She gets it.

Tye’s in the living room; he just watched Jack leave. “He mad?” he asks. 

“No,” she says. “He’s just thinking. Needed to go on a walk.”

“Is that true? Or is that something you say is true to make people happy.”

Lula is taken aback, slightly. “Take your best guess,” she says on instinct, which makes her realize she’s pretty proud of her instincts. 

Tye frowns at her. “I think you’re fulla shit,” he says kinda shyly, and she smiles to encourage that kind of straight-talk with her. 

“I sure am,” Lula says. “And yet, you still don’t get to know.” 

He settles back on the couch, and he doesn’t flinch when she sits down next to him. So she ends up telling him anyways. “We might have to move. Dylan’s going to call us, who knows what he wants.” 

“Who’s Dylan?” 

“Our big mastermind.” 

“Isn’t Danny the mastermind?” 

She’s surprised he’s picked up on that. “Well, yeah, he is. But Dylan’s the one who brought all of us in, and he’s in the government so he’s good to have on our side. He’s supposed to be getting us out of here.” 

“Oh.” Tye looks over at her at a second and then looks back at the TV. “When’s that, y’think?” 

“No idea. That’s kinda the problem.” 

“Where would you go?” 

“Back to Vegas? Or to New York or LA. Some kinda big city where we could get work and blend in. Might even be overseas, if we can’t blend in here.” Lula shrugs, but then she realizes what Tye’s asking about and she feels like shit.

“Cool,” is all Tye says. “How do you do that thing from one hand to the other?”

“Ah. That chestnut. I can tell you about how to do it in theory, but in actuality I’m actually incapable of doing it. My hands are too small. Well, and Jack says I don’t have the gift, but he’s full of shit too.” 

Tye grins. “So what’s the theory?” 

She does her best to teach him. 

Her phone rings a while later, after she’s shown Tye far more than everything she knows. It’s Jack. “Hey?” she answers. 

“I puked and I’m sitting on the side of the road feeling like I’m gonna pass out,” Jack says. 

“I’m on my way, where are you?” 

“Left outta the driveway, third right and then another right.” 

“It’s gonna be okay, hon. Don’t move, and don’t pass out.”

“Roger that.” 

Lula hangs up, stands up. “What is it?” Tye asks. 

“I gotta go pick up Jack, I’ll be back.” 

“Can I come?” 

“Not this time, kiddo, stick around and practice. Just a sec.” Lula grabs the keys off the front table, slips on her flip-flops, and leaves. Jack really didn’t sound good. 

It’s a longer drive than she anticipated. Almost fifteen minutes, which means he walked a lot further than makes any kind of sense to her. Didn’t seem like he was gone for that long. Maybe he ran part of it. 

He’s sitting on the side of the road, looking very pathetic. Lula pulls over next to him, and tries to figure out how to approach this. “Hey,” she ends up saying. Super casual. Very cool. 

Jack doesn’t even roll his eyes. He puts his head down on his knees, hugged up to his chest. She sits down next to him, and he says, “Thanks.”

“Why’d you puke?” 

“Just…” He hesitates, and instead of answering he leans against her shoulder. And she decides not to give him shit. She puts her arm around him hugs him. “I’m not sick,” he says. 

“Okay.” 

“Did Dylan call yet?” 

“Nope.” 

“Fucking figures.” 

She kisses the side of his head after a lot of thought about it. “Jack, we can’t take him. Like, no matter what.” 

“Stop guessing,” he says with no bite. 

“It's not guessing when I know I’m right, though. Which, I’m sorry. We just can’t. You know we can’t, and I know you know and I’m not being funny or anything, that’s literally just the state of affairs right now, okay? I mean what did you think we could do, though. Or were you not thinking about it on purpose, kind of.” 

Jack doesn't say anything for a very long time, and that’s when she realizes she’s been giving him distracting patter. And for once, he didn’t stop her. So that makes her feel like it’s really bad. 

“We can’t take him,” he finally says. “But we should. And for a while we were the good guys, and I forgot that we aren’t. Really.” 

“We’re still the good guys,” she says. “We aren’t miracle workers, though. Or social workers.” 

Jack snorts. “If you think what that kid needs is a social worker then you came from a more sheltered childhood than I thought.” 

“Hey.” 

“Pretending to be naive isn’t making me feel any better.” 

“I’m trying to be pragmatic,” she says, feelings hurt despite herself. “Not naive. It was clever wordplay, not a real point. So fuck you.”

“Sorry,” Jack says, barely audible. She doesn’t acknowledge it. 

“We don’t know him,” Lula says. “Not really. And none of us are equipped to take care of a kid while we do whatever else we do. Plus, he has to go to school and shit. Probably make up a grade at least, if not more, and you think I’m just being an ass when I say this won’t work, I mean. Fuck, Jack. Just cuz my family is relatively normal doesn’t mean I’m a fucking idiot. Get in the car, I want to be there when Dylan calls.” And she gets up, heads towards the car.

Jack gets in with her. He looks kind of alarmingly pale when she starts driving, and that’s something that normally Lula would comment on. But they’re arguing, so she doesn’t say anything. He locks himself in the bathroom once they’re home, and she doesn’t want to follow him. 

Danny’s in the living room; he watches them come in and then looks at Lula with interest. “Huh,” he says. “Is he okay?” 

“Nope.” Lula plops down next to him, almost on top of him on accident, and crosses her arms. “And he’s being pissy with me. Which I will not tolerate.” 

“Ah.” Danny isn’t intimidated by her anger, which is almost kinda sweet. 

Tye’s next to Danny on the couch. He turns and leans forward to look at her - not particularly subtle, but he’s just a kid anyways. “Why’d you have to get him?” he asks. 

“I’m not really sure,” she answers honestly. “Maybe when he stops being a fucking _ass_ I’ll get to find out.”

Tye isn’t concerned with her being upset either. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen the two of ya fight before,” he says. “It’s weird.” 

Danny laughs a little, but Lula isn’t at all amused. “Shut up,” she says. “I don’t like it, it’s weird. Bad weird.” 

“You haven’t had a disagreement with him before, have you," Danny says after a second, sounding both sympathetic and very amused. 

“I mean I have,” she hesitates. “In the beginning, when he was worried I wanted to jump his bones and he was pushing me away. But that wasn’t really… like, real. But we don’t really fight. Any of us.” 

“Not really,” Danny agrees. “Especially now that we’re not doing any of the big cons anymore.”

“Right. So.” 

“Got it.” After a moment, Danny adds, “Well, I assume I got it. I might not. I don’t want to just…”

“For the last time, Danny, you don’t come off as a know-it-all,” she sighs, leaning her head back on the couch. “Seriously. And I kinda like knowing that somebody has all our shit kept track of. You’re Atlas, don’t apologize for having the world on your shoulders, dude.” 

“Why’s he Atlas?" Tye says. 

“Codename,” Danny says. And his phone rings. 

Lula’s itchy the whole time Danny’s talking on the phone. She wants to know. And she also doesn’t want to leave Tye, no matter what fucking Jack says. So she’s got a lot of feelings. “What’d he say?” she asks as soon as he hangs up.

“We’re moving,” Danny says. “Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Big enough city to get lost in, not big enough for us to be actually concretely recognized. Nobody goes to Pittsburgh looking for celebrity magicians on the run.”

“Okay,” she says. That’s near where her mom lives. But nowhere near here. Or Tye. She can’t bring herself to see how he’s reacting. Can’t bring herself to do much of anything really. “Where’s Merritt?” 

“Out back. Apparently he’s been working on some secondhand van he picked up somewhere,” Danny says. So she goes there. 

Merritt sure is working on a van, which is odd because she can’t remember him mentioning this. Then again, they don’t share a room anymore, and that makes it harder to catch up. He’s not particularly forthcoming. He even looks at her suspiciously when she comes out, just for a second. There’s dad rock blaring.

“Hey,” she says. “Can I lie on the top of this thing?” 

“Sure. Don’t ask me to turn down my tunes.”

“I won’t. You don’t have to share your weed either,” she smiles. 

“Woo. It must be bad.” He doesn’t ask any more questions, and Lula remembers again why Merritt is the best. The top of the van is warm, and she warms up quickly too, lying there with her eyes closed. And, because she’s kind of crazy, she runs some possibilities. 

There are a few conceivable ways to get Tye to come with them, but not many. He’d have to be willing, and she doesn’t want to broach that conversation at all. None legal. She wasn’t lying to Jack. He overreacted like a dumb baby. A dumb baby she loves, though, which makes things complicated. 

Tye hops up next to her, light on his feet but still loud enough that she should’ve heard him coming but definitely didn’t. “Hey,” he says. 

“Hi.” She scoots over to make room for him, and Tye sits really close to her. Closer than he probably has to even though the roof is tight quarters. His toes brush her arm. 

“Are you gonna be weird now too?” 

“I’m not being weird, I’m just…” Tanning? Enjoying the silence? What the fuck is the normal way to end this. 

“Okay,” Tye says after a long silence. “Is it ‘cuz I ain’t coming with you?”

“Well, there is that. We do kinda like you, y’know.” 

She glances up just in time to see him smile, a big one that spreads across his face slow. “Oh,” he says, very cheerfully. “Yeah. But ya’ll shouldn’t feel bad about it. Never thought you were staying.” 

“Yeah, but. I mean, you interested in coming, even?” 

He bites his lip. “Sure,” he finally says. “But only if my dad would come. But he won’t. So it’s fine. Really.” 

She raises her eyebrows. Doesn’t believe him, but it’d be easier if she could get there. “Really,” she repeats. 

“Yeah. So can you and Jack chill out?” 

Lula pushes herself up on one arm and quints at him. “Getting awfully cheeky,” she says disapprovingly. “When did that start?” 

He shrugs. “Dunno. Will you?” 

“I’ll do my best,” she says after a moment. “But we’ve gotten kinda used to having you around.”

He smiles again, smaller, and doesn’t really answer. That makes sense. His brave front probably doesn’t mean much about how he actually feels. 

“I can cut your hair,” she says after a second. “I’ve been doing Jack’s. Meant to offer before, forgot.” 

“Okay.” 

Tye leans back on the roof next to her, so she figures they’re cool. The sun makes everyone sleepy. And Merritt’s music doesn’t even suck. 

She’s woken up when Merritt taps on the side of the van twice. “Hey sweetheart, c’mon down.” 

Lula yawns, and slips down mostly gracefully. Probably. Merritt’s waiting for her, arms crossed. “Jack just came out, looked at you, and went back in.”

“Okay?” 

“He wants to kiss and make up. So to speak.” 

She doesn’t doubt that he’s right, but she doesn’t exactly agree. “Okay, well. Then he can tell me that.”

“Lula, I like you quite a bit,” Merritt says plainly. “You’re smart as a whip, twice as sharp, and very good at what you do. But you are dumb as rocks sometimes. Both of you. Don’t hold a grudge just because he’s not great about his feelings. Whatever it is, go say it.” 

“Do you give him this talk?” she complains. 

“No. But I spent a year with him undercover, and I know the boy’s got walls of reinforced concrete around himself. Right or wrong, he can’t do some things. And we’re a team, we pick up each others’ slack.” 

They are a team. She loves him. He’s obviously not feeling good. So she goes to him, where he’s curled up on their bed under her afghan. She sits on her side of the bed, facing his back, and she tries to come up with an opening remark. “Feeling any better?” she finally says. 

“I don’t think you’re an idiot,” Jack says. 

“Good,” she says. “It’s… fine.” It isn’t. “Just don’t go taking out shit on me again, okay? Not like that. Not cool.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.” He rolls over to look at her. “Forgive me?” 

“Sure,” she says after a second. “Yeah. Guess so.” 

He smiles a little, and sits up to hug her. “I’m really sorry,” he says. “I just feel like shit.” 

“I can tell. Are you gonna let me be nice to you now?” 

“I could.” He sounds grumpy. “If you stop rubbing it in my face.”

“Alright, buddy. What do you want to eat?”

“You don’t have to do that, like wait on me.”

“I know I don’t have to do it, dickweed, I’m volunteering. Soup? You like soup? I hate soup, but I know it’s comforting to most people.”

Jack actually smiles at her. “No. Soup’s gross.”

“Right? How about a sandwich. Or pancakes?” 

“I’m really okay.” 

“If you’re sure. You want a drink? Coffee or something?” 

“Lu. Do you have any, like, ulterior motives here?” he inquires patiently. 

“Okay, y’know what-“ She starts to stand. Jack stops her with a hand on her arm. “I’m not going to stay here if you’re just gonna be a shit again,” she says firmly. “Let go of my arm.” 

“I was joking,” Jack says. “You’re being nice and I’m uncomfortable.”

She raises her eyebrows at him. “Now you’re making me uncomfortable.” 

He raises his eyebrows back. “Mission accomplished.”

Lula flips him off. “Alright, buddy. Okay.” 

“I’m sorry, I’ll stop, I’ll be normal. Or I’ll try. I’m just…” 

As he’s sitting there, struggling for words, it’s pretty clear how little she knows him, like actually knows things about him. She doesn’t know what to say, or even what to draw on to figure something out. 

“I want to talk to you about it but I don’t know what to say,” Jack says without looking at her. 

“Okay. Well I can wait, babe,” she answers. “And you can have something to eat before you do. No hunger strike, c’mon.” 

He lets himself be coerced into standing, and he hugs her again once he’s up. He feels damp, sweaty, and she thinks he’s shaking. He hangs onto her for so long, it almost gets awkward. She holds back, though, and she scratches her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. “How about some toast,” he finally says. “With peanut butter.” 

“I’ll do my best, but you know I’m not a trained chef.” 

That lets him laugh, and they separate. “I’ll survive,” he says. And he takes her hand in the hallway, which lets her know they’re normal again. 

Danny joins them in the kitchen, just keeping an eye on them it seems. Lula does the best thing she can think of and ignores him. “Just toast? You’re sure?” she asks Jack. 

“Yeah, thanks.” Jack looks out the window. “How’s Merritt’s mystery van going? Ten bucks it’ll never run.” 

“You want to lose ten bucks, be my guest,” she says, putting toast down in the toaster. “It looks like it’s in pretty good shape.”

“Merritt worked in a garage as a kid,” Danny volunteers.

“He’s done just about everything, so I’m not surprised,” Jack says. “What’s he doing that’s taking so long?” 

“He’s probably adding tricks,” Danny says. “My money’s on at least two hidden compartments.”

“Smart, that’d be cool,” Lula nods. “Trap doors. Boxing gloves that come out and punch you. Mirrors.” Jack smiles at her. Shouldn’t matter as much as it does. Maybe they’re not as normal as she’d hope. 

He eats toast, and some dinner later on. He sits next to her when they’re watching movies that night, and he even falls asleep on her. Several important steps forward again. 

“Took my advice?” Merritt says during a lull.

“You could say that,” Lula says, then adds. “Yes. It was good advice.” 

He grins. “I know. Yeah. Well good, it’s not right unless you two are makin’ puppy dog eyes at each other.”

“It’s not like that,” she starts to say, but Merritt cuts her off.

“I know, I know, he’s told me. No grandbabies.” 

Lula blinks several times. “Huh. Well. Good, then.” 

“Hey, I’m chill with it,” Merritt says. “I’m not as cool as you kids, apparently, but I get it. Be happy. That’s all that matters.” 

“Well, aromantic people are less of an anomaly than one might think,” Danny says. “Before this century, when Western society decided to marry for love, romance was more of a business transaction than anything emotional.” 

“Aromantic,” Lula repeats. 

“Yeah. Like how asexual people aren’t interested in sex, aromantic people aren’t interested in falling in love.” 

The pit of her stomach kinda drops out, and Lula feels cold. Jack slips his hand around hers, apparently not asleep. “Huh,” she says. “That’s interesting.” 

“Yeah, just interesting,” Danny says. “Not necessarily right, or anything.” 

She smiles, or pretends to. “Alright. I’m taking Jack to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow, when we’ll be planning our move and shit, probably, right?”

“Right,” Danny agrees. 

Lula pulls Jack to his feet, then looks at Tye. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yep,” Tye nods. “Night.”

She shuts the bedroom door behind them, and Jack stops pretending to be sleepy. “Well shit, who knew there was a word for it,” he says. 

“Y’think?” she says. “I’m not interested in you, doesn’t mean I’ll never be interested in anybody.” 

“Yeah?” he frowns. “I dunno.” 

“Well.” She gets in bed, and Jack follows her. “I guess we’ll find out, eventually. You feel better?” He curls up to her, wraps his arms around her waist and puts his head on her chest. She tries not to breathe too hard, and carefully holds him back.

“Lu, I have never for a second thought magic was real,” Jack says. “Or miracles or anything that would make my life easier. I never got to believe in them, okay? It’s just me, what I can do. I know what’s possible and what isn’t. So I’m not just being stupid. But I’m not leaving without him.” 

“Sweetheart,” she begins.

“I know,” he says. “Really, I know. But I can’t. You don’t have to stay, but baby, I can’t leave.” 

“Okay,” she says after a second. For some reason, she feels choked up. “Okay, I’ll make that happen then. For real.” 

“You’re smart,” he says. “You’ve probably guessed. But my dad was… not great. I was the youngest. Mom was staying no matter what, so. I split.”

“How old were you?” she asks. The air feels fragile, like a soap bubble.

“Seventeen,” Jack answers. “It wasn't easy. And I can’t make anyone else do it when I’ve got an option.”

“Okay,” Lula hesitates. “Are you like morally opposed to murder?”

“Not in this case. But don’t kill him. I’m morally opposed to you going to prison, and you’d probably get caught.”

“What if Merritt goes to jail?” she says seriously. 

Jack squeezes her tighter. “I love you very much,” he says, voice muffled. “And I’m sorry I’m such a pain in the ass. I know I am, I’m sorry. You’re great. Super functional and good with your emotions.” 

“Don’t say that like it’s strange,” she says. “And I love you too. Very, very much. Can I bring Atlas in on it?” 

“Always, you don’t even have to ask.” 

“Y’know I don’t think we’d be so close if you didn’t agree with me on that,” she murmurs. “I don’t have time to convince people about him.”

“Right?” He doesn’t move from where he’s put himself, against her chest. “Lu,” he says after a second.

“Yeah?” 

“I know I’ll never fall for anybody, because if I could it’d be you.” 

She’s got nothing to say to that. It feels close to fear, whatever it is in her chest, but she doesn’t want to run. “Well. I hope you’re not going anywhere, cuz I love you too. I love you a lot, Jack. Even with your tragic backstory.” 

He grumbles something nonverbal and then says louder, “I’m trying for you, I really am.” 

“I can tell. Y’know, me too. Trying. I, uh.” What the hell; might as well share. “Keep thinking you’re gonna change your mind.”

“Not a chance, Lu.”

“Maybe I should marry you after all,” she says.

“Y’better propose in public with something big,” he answers comfortably. 

So that’s great. She’s going to dream about that, probably. Fuck. “Huh,” she mumbles. “No promises.” 

They doze off with the lights on for a bit, until they both startle at the sound of their door opening. Jack squeezes her tighter, and Lula pushes him off before she knows what she’s doing. “What?” she slurs.

“Hey.” It’s Tye. 

“What?” Jack repeats. 

After a second or so of consciousness, it becomes clear that Tye’s crying. “Can I sleep in here tonight?”

“Sure,” Jack answers for them. 

“Everything okay?” Lula asks. 

“Yeah, we can talk in the morning.” He crawls up on Lula’s other side, and Lula pulls the blankets around him and them. “Thank you,” he mumbles into a pillow.

“Sure,” Lula says kind of faintly. She can’t decide if she’s tired or worried, or both. But whatever, they’ll talk tomorrow. She hangs onto Jack and shuts her eyes again. 

She doesn’t realize she’s sleeping until she wakes up at someone grabbing her arm. It's Tye, still asleep, so she decides she isn’t going to worry about it. 

Jack woke up too, when she did, and he murmurs, “What?”

“Nothin, babe.”

So this isn’t her best night of sleep. She wakes up still kinda tired. Doesn’t move so Jack doesn’t wake up. And then she remembers they have to talk to Tye, and she’s tired all over again. 

Luckily Tye makes it easy. “My dad’s dead,” he says as soon as he sees she’s awake. Lula looks over at him. “He got into a fight, or something, and the other guy just killed him.” 

“Fuck,” Lula says softly. Jack still doesn’t wake up, and that worries her a little bit. He always wakes up. Maybe he’s dead.

“So I can come with you,” Tye says after a second. “If you still want me.” 

She smiles. “Yeah, of course. Come here.” Lula hugs Tye with the arm not around Jack, and that’s when Jack wakes up. She feels his arm tighten on her, just for a second, which is a tell she doesn’t know if he’s aware of.

“What?” Jack says, raising his head with his eyes still closed. 

“Nothing, honey.” He drops his head back down. “Tye, honey, you have any, like. Shit we should go pick up? Clothes and whatever.” 

“Left most of it here. I guess there’s a couple things in the RV.” 

“Okay, well we can go get that today. Do you, uh. Do you need to make arrangements for your dad? Like.”

“No money,” Tye says. As if she hasn’t thought of that. 

“No, I know, but we’ve got money. We could get him a headstone. Something you could visit.” 

Tye shakes his head a little. “I’ve got some stuff from him. I don’t need anything else. He’s not… I don’t want to visit. ‘Sides, we’re not from here.” 

“Where you from?” 

“Texas, little town outside Nacogdoches.” 

That sounds like nonsense. “Okay. You don’t want to send him back there? Or-“

“No.” 

“Okay, okay. I can take the hint, for real. You want some breakfast?” 

“Wait,” Jack says, sounding actually awake. “Wait. What happened? Arrangements for who?” 

“His dad’s dead,” Lula says, struggling to think of an appropriate tone. 

Jack sits dead up and looks at Tye. “How?” 

“Got in a fight and the other guy killed him. Police called last night, after you two went to bed.” 

Jack looks Lula in the eyes. She knows what he’s thinking; some crazy wish fulfillment timing. Almost like something heard his confession to her and decided he wasn’t fucking around. “So you’re coming,” he says to Tye. 

“Yeah, I think. I dunno.” 

“We have to tell Dylan,” Jack says to Lula. “Does Danny know?” he asks Tye. 

“I put your guys’ number down as mine, and Danny picked it up when they called, so yeah.”

Jack puts both hands on either side of Lula’s face, kisses her and tells her, “Thank you.” And then he gets up and leaves the room. 

Lula blinks a couple times. “Huh,” she says. “Well, I guess we’re getting up. Are you really okay?” 

Tye nods twice, decisively. “Yeah, Lu, I’m fine.” 

“Since when do you call me Lu,” she grumbles, getting out of bed, and he gets up with her. He moves next to her, awkwardly close, and she figures out after a second that he wants a hug. She gives it to him. “So now you’re the new guy, then. New kid. New kid on the block.” That reference doesn’t land. She must be getting old. 

“Yeah?” Tye says, and perks up. “Do I get to run cons?” 

“No. No, you do not.” 

In the kitchen, Jack’s leaning next to Danny on the counter, talking fast and quiet, and Lula is immediately suspicious. “What’s going on?” she says. 

“We’re planning, asshole,” Jack says, holding his arm out for her. She lets him hug her. 

“Without a parent, we’ll need some legal guardian or something, in case we run into any trouble,” Danny says, continuing what he was saying before. “Merritt might be the best choice. Most believable too, since they share a roughly similar past.” 

“Good idea,” Jack nods. “Y’know any forgers?” 

“No.” Danny sounds bemused. “Do you?” 

Jack grins. It’s so charming. “I’ll make a call, we can get him some ID once we’re in Pittsburgh. Tye, what do you have? Any license or anything?” Tye shakes his head. “That’s easier then. Cool.” 

Lula reaches around Jack to take one of his waffles out of the toaster. “When do we leave?” she asks.

“Uh, well our lease isn’t up until the end of the month, another week. So. No rush. We can pack up and leave when we want. Merritt will drive us, it’ll take four days. Dylan’s got an apartment for us up there, too.” 

“Can we visit my mom?” Lula says, leaning against Jack and eating the waffle. “She’s in Indiana. Indianapolis.” 

“Sure,” Danny says, looking surprised and pleased. 

“Guarantee she’ll feed us at least one meal, depending on how long she can talk us into staying,” Lula smiles at Jack in particular. “She’ll love you.” 

“I know,” he grins again. “We’re shacked up with a kid, huge mom-pleaser.” 

Tye is very pleased. “I’m the kid?” he says. 

“Yes, you are,” Jack smiles, and kisses Lula on the cheek. “Or you can tell her we’re friends. Whichever is easier for you. No pressure.” 

“No pressure,” she repeats. He takes a bite of her waffle, and fuck, fuck she loves him so fucking much. “So how are we going to kill a week? Packing’s only gonna take a second.” 

Danny looks at Jack significantly. Jack glances at Tye, then back at Danny. “What?” Lula says after a second. “What was that look?” 

 

 

“How was that?” Tye holds up a wallet. His smile is huge, something Lula’s still trying to get used to. “Pretty good, right?” 

“I felt it,” Jack says. “Not perfect.” 

“Come on.” Tye walks back to him and hands the wallet back. “You knew it was coming.” 

Jack takes it back and puts it back in his pocket. Lula frowns. “Okay, Jack, take off your jacket.”

“Just an excuse to get me naked,” Jack says as he obeys. 

“Okay, look at me. Watch me do it.” She turns Jack by the shoulders so his back is to her, and tells him, “Okay, walk away slowly, slow motion.” As he walks, she gets her fingers around the wallet. She lifts as he moves, and the wallet comes away easily. “Move with him,” she says. 

“It always comes back to pick-pocketing, for some reason,” Danny says from the bench where he’s spectating. 

“Well, we already did everything else,” Jack says. He takes his wallet back from Lula. “He aced the polygraph, he can improvise better than anyone but Merritt, and the card stuff just takes time. Your thing can’t be taught, Lula’s takes too much time and supplies, and I’m not teaching a kid to hypnotize anyone. Blanket rule.”

“Pretty good rule,” Danny grins. “It basically could only backfire.” 

Tye listens, fiddling with a poker chip. New habit of his, since the cards are Jack’s. “I’ve been practicing something else,” he says. “Wanna see?” 

“Sure.” Jack puts his arm around Lula. “Show us.” 

“Okay. Y’see that leaf?” He points at a big one, some kinda big flowery thing. Then he flicks the poker chip at it. She doesn’t exactly catch on to his technique, but it seems to be spinning. Slices right through the middle of the leaf. “Cool, right?” 

“Very cool,” Lula says. 

Merritt walks up to them too. “Alright, we’re good. Let’s go.” 

“Did we have a tail?” Tye asks. 

“Just a couple, no big deal. Neither of them can see, they think they’re blind, and that’ll last a good six hours. Let’s get going, let’s meet the mama.”

They walk to the car now that their tails are gone, and all pile in. Lula’s in the back between Jack and Danny. “Who do you think they were?” Lula asks. 

“Dunno,” Merritt says. “There aren’t any more of ‘em, though, and that’s all that counts. What’s the address?” 

Lula gives it to him. She feels weirdly nervous. Maybe not weirdly, it probably makes a lot of sense, but it’s weird for her. She wants to do this, to introduce the like, five most important people in her life to each other. But her strange sense of stage fright is back. She’s ready to freeze up. 

Jack takes her hand on the way to the door, just for a second before he drops it again. “Call the play,” he says. 

“Let’s not confuse her.” Lula almost wishes she were braver. No, she definitely wishes that. But really, it’s better that Mom doesn’t get any weird ideas. 

“Alright, sweetheart.” 

Lula knocks, because she’s with company. Mom answers the door so quickly it seems like she was waiting for it. 

“Hello, hello! Come in out of the cold. And also so you don’t get recognized,” Mom says cheerfully, hurrying everyone in. She hugs Lula first, and Lula hugs back tightly. It’s been too long. “So who’s who?” 

“Well, this is Merritt,” Lula points at him.

“Pleased to meet your acquaintance,” Merritt says, shaking Mom’s hand. 

“This is Danny, smartest guy I know.” 

That makes him blush, kinda, and look a little shy. “A lot to live up to. Hi.” 

“I’m sure she’s right,” Mom says. No handshake for him, she remembered.

Lula sighs. “This is Tyler.”

“Now I don’t recognize this one,” Mom says, narrowing her eyes. “Is he new?” 

“Yeah, in a couple ways. Cleans up nice, doesn’t he?” Tye finally got a haircut, and he’s been sharing Danny’s clothes. 

“Very nice.” Mom hugs him tight. And for a really long time, actually, which is kinda strange. But Tye doesn’t object. Probably hasn’t seen a mom in a while. “How are you, honey?” she asks him. 

“Good, ma’am, thank you.” 

When that’s done, Lula makes her last introduction. “And this is Jack, Mom.”

“The young one,” Mom says, and Jack grins. 

“Yep. Nice to meet you,” he says. 

Mom hugs him too, and Jack squeezes her back, tight. “Nice to meet you too,” Mom says to him, and Lula feels her heart skipping a couple beats. 

Jack smiles at Lula after Mom lets go of him, and she wants to hug him too, she wants to tell him she was right but she doesn’t want to blur the lines. So she just smiles back and hopes her mom can’t tell how much she loves him. 

“Well c’mon in,” Mom says. “I’ve got some cookies.” So they all follow her back, into the kitchen.

Tye comes over to her on the way, because he’s imprinted on her like a baby duck. He’s got that big smile again. “Your mom’s nice,” he says. 

“Yeah, she is. I know, how did she get _me_?” 

“No,” Tye objects. “You’re nice.”

“Don’t lie to her just cuz her mom is feeding you,” Jack smiles. 

“I’m not. I’m lying to be nice,” Tye says. He ducks Lula’s punch with a bigger smile, and then he shoves her back, which is really fucking adorable. 

Lula doesn’t even mind too much. She shoves him back harder. “I’m going to kick your ass,” she says. “You can have dinner through a feeding tube, how about that?” 

There needs to be better words for almost-family, Lula thinks. Or her mom needs to actually adopt Tye, so she can say he’s like her little brother and be right.

“So tell me about Montana,” Mom says after handing out cookies. 

It’s like she doesn’t know magicians at all, that they’ll talk endlessly without someone to stop them. Merritt and Danny and Jack all relish this chance to wax poetic, and Lula listens because she loves the rhythm of their banter. It’s why she wanted to be a Horseman. Even Tye gets his lines in. 

And then Lula realizes that her mom is like her, and just likes hearing them talk. Mom totally already loves them, just as fast as Lula did. 

As predicted, they have dinner here. She made pot roast. And it’s kind of the first real home-cooked meal they’ve had for like, six months minimum. Longer, for most of the boys probably. They’re all happier than she’s seen for about as long as she can remember knowing them, so she’s happy too. 

Mom corners her in the kitchen, while Lula’s getting pepper and salt. “You’re being awfully quiet,” she says. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing,” Lula says. “There’s just three stars of the show, so I’m getting less screen time. And they’re all funny, I figured you’d want to hear their stories for once, instead of me.” 

“They aren’t my daughter,” Mom says. “Are you really happy? They’re kind of a weird bunch,” she adds quieter. “And that Tyler, how old is he? Where are his parents?” 

“Dead,” Lula says. “Long story.” 

“You don’t need to be his replacement parent, y’know.”

“I know,” Lula says patiently. “Mom, I know. It’s fine. I promise.” 

Mom has more to stay, but she stops herself. “What about Jack,” she says instead. “What’s there?” 

“Nothing,” Lula says. Then she corrects herself. “He’s my best friend. We’re just friends.”

“Okay, okay.”

“He really wants you to like him,” Lula says after a second. 

“Well luckily, I do like him. Very charming.”

Lula grins. “Yeah. He is. He’s a huge dork, too. I’m shocked he hasn’t asked you to pick a card yet. Or showed off with some fancy shuffle, he’s got about six that are absolutely crazy.” 

“Can’t wait to see them,” Mom smiles. 

“Give it a solid ten minutes,” Lula promises. 

It only takes six. "So, you interested in a card trick?” Jack says, producing his deck of cards from apparently nowhere. 

Mom smiles at Lula. “I sure am.”

“You're sure? You haven’t had too many of these from her?” Jack grins at Lula. “Kidding. I know she’s terrible at it.”

“Wow,” Lula says. He’s not wrong, but he’s giving her shit and she loves it. 

“No, I’ve had enough fake blood from her,” Mom says firmly. “Enough clothes ruined and carpeting stained.” 

Merritt hoots, and Jack smiles, finishing his shuffle. “Okay, pick a card.” 

He does the card trick, impresses Mom and everyone else. It goes exactly as well as anyone would think it would go. Who really cares. Jack’s happy, and he’s smiling and she can’t decide if she’s going to try to hug him or not.

She doesn’t have to decide. He waits till she heads to the bathroom and is waiting for her outside the door. “Hey,” she says, playing it cool. 

“Hey,” Jack says, and he just holds his hand out to her to see if she wants it. Which, of course she does. She hugs him tightly around the neck, and Jack lifts her up a little. “I want to talk to you,” he says. 

“Okay. In the van when we leave?” 

“Sure.” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you,” he echoes. “Can I see your bedroom?” 

“So you can laugh at my yearbook pictures and mock the bedspread I’ve had since I was twelve? Huh? My galaxy sheets, you want to cleverly rip those apart?” she smiles. 

“Definitely. That’s exactly what I want.” 

“Fat fuckin chance, bud.” She pats his shoulder. “The only people I can allow in my room are those who have taken a vow of secrecy.” 

“Sure,” Jack nods. “Understandable. How does one take such a vow?” 

She sighs. “Well. I suppose one could promise that they’d reserve their teasing for private, and make that vow doing the Vulcan salute.”

“Huh,” Jack says with half a smile. “Any reason for that particular salute?” 

“No, it’s just all I thought of.” 

“God, I love you,” he says. “Fine. I swear,” he says, holding up his left hand in a Vulcan salute. “I won’t say anything in front of the guys. Unless I forget, or it’s hilarious.” 

“Fair enough. But top shelf humor only.” 

“Deal.” 

She leads him upstairs, trying her best not to take his hand on the way. “Y’know, the only other guy I’ve brought to my bedroom was my high school boyfriend,” she says, turning back to wiggle her eyebrows at him. 

“Oh yeah? What was his name?” 

“Jimmy. Jimmy Barrow. He lived a few minutes away, he had a Razr scooter, and he told me he didn’t like my hair.” 

“A true romantic,” Jack says, and Lula opens the door for him and then hip-checks him into the door frame for being sarcastic. He grins, and he links his hand with hers. “Wow. Sacred ground.” 

“Don’t be an ass, Jack,” she sighs. 

Jack looks around the room with what she’d privately call his magician eyes. Taking in every detail, and looking sharp. “Not as bad as I thought,” he says. “Pretty normal.” 

“Huh. Really.” 

“Yep.” He keeps looking around, and she follows his eyes. “Huh,” he says. “So you were boring.” 

"Alright, buddy,” she sighs again, and Jack is already smiling an apology at her. “Look.” 

“You read a lot?” 

“Yeah, I did. I had a lot of time on my hands, so. Why is it weird to read a lot?” She follows Jack to her bookshelves. 

“It’s not, it’s just not what I did,” he says, which is exactly her point so she’s kinda pissed he took it. “What was your favorite?” 

“Uh, I don’t know. I like most of them. We could take some of them,” she adds after a second, because he’s looking at these books like he’s never seen a book before. Well, not exactly like that, but she decides to stand by that metaphor. “I mean, we’re gonna have nothing but time.” 

“Yeah.” He tears his eyes away and looks at the rest of her. “So galaxy sheets. You super into space?” 

“No,” she says. “I was super into being quirky, though.” 

Jack is thrilled. “Amazing. Did you have weird colored hair?” 

“My mom wouldn’t let me. She saved me from that.” 

“Wow. Wow. Doc Martins?”

“Yes. Hoodies, and lots of black. I was a nightmare, I was very misunderstood but very average.” 

He hasn’t stopped smiling. “Amazing. This is amazing. I love you so much. You were a huge nerd.” 

“Uh, duh. So were you, though. Only nerds become magicians.” 

Jack raises his eyebrows and then goes to inspect her bulletin board. “So if you were so normal, how’d you end up here? Like, what about your friends?”

“Well, I mean we all drifted apart, it’s easier than you’d think to just kind of, fall out of touch. So. That’s how.” 

“Huh.” He goes back to her bookshelf, and Lula’s already looking around the room for a box or something to put some books in for him. “So just a couple,” he says, as he pulls a few out. 

“Take that one,” she says. “It’s so cool, like a cool fantasy thing that’s all symbolism and shit.”

“Fantasy,” he repeats. “What a huge nerd.” But he takes it anyways, and the sequel. “Classic literature stuff?” 

“Oh that’s both bottom shelves, my friend,” she says. “I’ll get a box.” 

“Cool.” 

There’s a knock on the doorframe, and it’s Tye. “Is this your bedroom?” he says. “Cool.” 

“Thank you,” Lula says pointedly to Jack. 

“Merritt says we’re going,” Tye adds. 

“Okay. Ask my mom for a box, wouldja?” 

“Sure. You’re bringing your books?" 

“Some of them.” 

“Can I read them?” 

“Sure, if you get me a box.” 

Tye nods and darts away. They can hear him on the stairs. Jack’s still making a pile; it’s gotten so big that he sets it on the bed to grab some more. “Well, we’ll have the time,” he says in response to some look she apparently gave him. 

“It's fine,” she says. “I don’t mind. You can get a laptop too, if you follow all my instructions to hide your IP and stuff. It’s not really annoying once you get used to it.” 

“Right cuz we’re swimming in money.” 

“Well. I meant to mention that.” She opens her closet and digs through it to the far left side. There’s an old framed stitched sampler back there, which she thinks she got from an aunt way back when. Anyways, she kept it because it’s in a thick wooden frame, and it’s good for hiding shit. When she was younger, it was notes from her friends. Now it’s cash. 

“Geez,” he says when she pulls the cash out. “How much is that?” 

“About five grand. A little more. Hold on.” The next hiding spot is is taped to the bottom of a desk drawer that she has to crawl behind the desk to reach. “Look,” she says. “My dad instilled in me the importance of a good savings account early.”

“So you’ve been hoarding money for your entire life?” 

“Just the past ten years or so.” There’s more inside her mattress, where she cut a hole up from the bottom. And more behind her bulletin board, and inside a fake book.

“Good fucking hell, Lu,” Jack finally says, when he’s looking at all of it. “Whatthe fuck have you been doing for ten years, robbing banks?” 

“Pulling a couple cons. But I did a lot of legit shows too. I was popular at colleges.” She hasn’t stacked the money up like that before. “Emergency money. Okay?” There’s some more she hasn’t taken out yet. “Laptop for you. Some clothes for Tye.” 

“No, we’ll pay for that. You don’t have to-“

“I know I don’t have to, why does everyone think I think I have to?”

Jack raises his eyebrows. “Okay. I know you can’t be that angry about me.”

Calms her down like he meant it to. She likes him very much. “I’m not,” she says. “My mom thinks it’s strange, sometimes. I’m the only girl, there’s a kid. She’s worried about the stereotypes. Y’know. You guys being emotional unavailable fathers and me left with all the work.” 

“Wow,” he grins. “She’s so right.” 

“Shut the fuck up,” she sighs, and he smiles bigger. 

When she says goodbye to Mom, it’s weird and bittersweet. “I love you,” Mom says. “If you need anything, tell me.” 

“I will. Thank you. You like them?” 

“They’re good kids,” Mom nods. “The old one’s weird.” 

“Yeah, I know. Good kind of weird, though.” 

Mom hugs Tye on his way out, which makes Tye light up. “Nice to meet you,” he grins. “Had a good time.” 

“Take care of yourself, honey,” Mom says. She looks at Lula once he’s closer to the van. “You’re not his mom. That’s all I’m saying. If it’s ever too much, you talk to me. We’ll get him somewhere else to stay.” 

“Okay,” Lula says. She feels choked up. “Thank you. Do you like Jack?” 

Mom smiles at her. “A lot,” she says firmly. She holds back from anything else. Thank God she doesn’t ask if they’re more than friends, because the answer is yes but not the way a mom wants someone to be. How do you explain a platonic life partner, y’know? But it seems like Mom might know anyways. 

Jack’s out last with the box of books and money. “Hey Lu, don’t forget your blankets. And your stuff in the fridge.” 

“Thanks.”

“Good kid,” Mom says before letting go of Lula for good. “Drive safe. Tell me when you’re settled.” 

“Will do. I love you.”

“Love you.” 

Lula’s last in the car. Danny’s got shotgun, Merritt driving. Lula’s in the back with the Jack, with Tye in the middle seat.

“Mom likes you,” Lula tells Jack, and he smiles. 

“Starting to think you like me,” he says, leaning on her shoulder. 

“Alright. Tell yourself whatever you want.” 

 

 

 

New apartment. She and Jack are sharing again, Danny and Merritt have their own rooms, and Tye’s on the couch. It’s not super nice, but it’s safe, and she can walk to a corner store, three cafes, and two bars in less than ten minutes. 

She’s on a walk, Jack off on a run. She likes walking here, it’s like a mental screensaver of tall brick buildings and fire escapes. She’s thinking about turning around when she gets a call. It’s Tye. And he doesn’t abuse the phone they got him, so she’s slightly concerned. 

“Hey, what’s up?” she answers. 

“Hi. So we’re allowed to have pets.” 

“Yes…” 

“Can I get a cat?”

“What did the guys say?” 

“Merritt said yes, Danny said sure, Jack said to ask you.”

“Fine,” she says. “Is there a shelter around?” 

“Yep, three streets over. I could meet you there. I mean, I’m already there.” 

He’s so excited. It kinda warms her heart, that he is and that he’s asking all of them. Family shit. “Okay,” she says. “Yeah. We’ll need to get litter and stuff too.” 

“I can help pay for it.”

“That’s not what I meant. Just making sure you know. I’ll see you there.”

“Okay, cool. Thank you. Bye.” 

He smiles when he sees her, in the waiting room of the place, and starts by thanking her. “Really, thanks a lot. This is great. I always wanted a cat.” 

“Oh yeah? Any color?” 

“I don’t know,” he shrugs. “Depends.”

“Okay.” 

“I called Jack,” he adds then. “He was at work, though.” 

“Oh,” she says, not exactly sure what his point is. 

Tye kinda scuffs his foot on the ground. “Well, y’think he’ll be mad at me? For calling while he’s at work?” 

“No. Not even for a second. C’mon, let’s get your cat, kiddo.” She wants to hug him, but they’re in public and it’s probably not cool. So she kinda punches his arm, and he grins at her. 

“You’re awful,” Tye tells her. “Thanks.” 

Lula fills out the paperwork for him, and they head back. Tye keeps looking at her, to make sure that she’s there and excited, and she keeps smiling and finally she puts her hands on his shoulders and walks him the final few feet. 

It’s a room full of cats, rescued from a variety of scenarios. She stays at the door, outside the baby gate to let him be the center of attention. Tye, after touching each cat, picks one. Not a tiny cat, but one of the bigger ones. A skinny greyish stripy cat with scraggly crooked whiskers. Admittedly still charming, but a little odd. 

The meaning isn’t lost on Tye. “Y’like him?” he says with a little smirk. “Weird cat cuz we’re weird.” 

“Love it,” she rolls her eyes, but she’s also smiling. “Name?” 

“I need to think about it. The lady said she’s a little more than a year old, so. We’ll have her a while.” 

“That’s fine. We aren’t planning on getting rid of you any time soon.” 

Tye smiles for the rest of the errands, where they pick up cat litter and food, bowls and toys and a thing for it to climb on. He’s a good kid. She’s never doubted it. It’d be too on-the-nose to tell him how much she loves him, how much she wants him to be happy. So she doesn’t. She watches him. 

Jack’s there when they get home, not smoking but sitting on the front porch. He hops up to help them carry shit in, kisses Lula on the cheek in passing. “So who have we got?” he asks, looking in the carrier at the cat. 

“It’s a girl,” Tye says. “She’s a year old. Haven’t named her yet.” 

“Cool. Put her in our room, you should start ‘em out somewhere small until they get comfortable.” Jack gives Lula a look as they follow Tye inside. “And yes, I know that because we had cats,” he adds. 

“I didn't say anything,” she says innocently. “You chose to unlock yet another mystery about yourself from your grand vault of secrets.” She can’t stop from laughing at the faux-frustration he skewers her with. “The man behind the mystery shows his face yet again.” 

Jack pokes her with the scratching post he’s carrying. “Oh my God, Lu.” 

“The man! The myth! The legend. The only thing he’s better at than cards is charming women.” 

Jack’s actually blushing, which is an absolute wonder. Lula’s thrilled, and as soon as she puts down the bags she hugs him, returns his kiss on the cheek and ruffles his hair. “I’m kidding,” she says. “You charm the men too.” 

“Oh, thank you. I was offended you left that out,” Jack mumbles, and squeezes her tight in his arms. “We had five cats. Only three at once, but when a couple got old and had to be put down, we got two more.” 

“Wow. So you really know.” 

“I do. I am a foremost cat expert, and I should be treated with the proper respect I am due.” 

Tye calls out from their room. “Hey, Jack?” 

“Yeah?” Jack leads her over to the door to their room. 

Tye’s kneeling on the floor, looking in at the cat through the open door. “What should I do now?” he asks. 

“Give it space,” Jack says. “Back off. Talk to us, but like. Sit on the bed. We’ll sit here.” He sits down at the door too, and pulls Lula down by the hand. She doesn’t particularly mind; she’d probably sit with him anyways. 

“Talk to you about what?” 

“Well, take your shoes off first,” Jack says. “No shoes on our bed, c’mon.” 

Tye obeys, tossing the shoes over their heads back into the living room. “Okay, Mom,” he says. 

“Don’t sass your mother, dear,” Lula says. “How’s your trick shuffles going?” 

“Good,” Tye grins. “I can do almost everything Jack can.” 

“He can,” Jack agrees cheerfully. “But his throwing could use work.” 

“Compared to you? Jack. You’ve spent so many hours no one else can catch up.” She moves him so she can lean against his chest, under his chin. Jack wraps his arms around her shoulders and - she thinks - kisses the back of her head. “I mean you can’t really rate anyone by your standards, y’know what I’m saying?” 

Jack doesn’t continue the banter. He snuggles. “So what are you thinking, for names?” he finally says. 

“Uh, I have a couple ideas. Maybe, like. Emily. Or Jinx. I thought that’d be funny,” he says, and looks up at them. “What do you think?” 

“That would be funny,” Lula agrees. “You know I’m always down for a good pun. Plus isn’t that the name of that cat in that TV show?” 

“Wow,” Tye says with his goofy smile. “I know exactly what you're talking about.” 

Jack laughs and then he says, “I actually do know what she’s talking about, though. That show, it was like old?” 

“Yes!” Lula pats his arm. “Exactly. You get me. We’re like one mind.” 

“Creepy,” Tye pipes up. “And weird.” 

“Quiet, you. No emotional abuse while your cat is around, she’s young and impressionable.” Lula lets out a deep breath. “Jinx. Short for Hijinks.” 

“Jinkies,” Jack says quietly. 

“I never got to have a cat,” Tye muses. “Pa always said we couldn’t take care of it, y’know. So. Thanks, you guys.” 

“Don’t need to thank us,” Jack says. 

“Yeah, we’re happy to do this, dude. We like cats.” 

Tye shakes his head. “Nah, though. Like. You know, ya’ll know what you’re doing for me. And I appreciate it. Like, a lot.” 

Jack pulls Lula closer. “Not a problem. Really. How’s school going?” 

“Uh, it’s okay.” Clearly putting on a brave face. 

“How is it, though? The work is fine?” 

Tye bobs his head. “Yeah, I can handle it fine. The other kids leave me alone.” 

“Gotta charm ‘em,” Lula says wisely. “Use a little flash and sparkle. Hello, ladies. Get them right where you want them.” 

The kid regards her with great suspicion. “It sounds like you’re just saying words, that you don’t know what they mean,” he says. “You’re not good at flirting, are you?” 

Lula snorts. “Well, I could get the job done. But I was often let go from those jobs, so. Milage may very.” 

“You sound like you’re leading a sting operation,” Jack says to her. 

“Alright. Like you’re one to talk. You’ve got it easy, you just have to keep your mouth shut and the girls fill in the blanks. And you’re decent, so you get hot girls.” 

“Well, just in general girls are hotter, I feel,” Jack says solemnly. “Average every girl, and they’ll be hotter than the average guy. Men are disgusting, they put in no effort. Myself included.” 

Lula snorts. “I’ve seen the number of pushups you do. Don’t lie.” 

“Hey,” Tye cuts in. “Look, she moved. What should we do?” 

“Stop talking about her. Stay still.” Jack peers in at the cat. “If she takes too long, we can put some food out here. It’s patience, though. Mainly.” 

“I can do that,” Tye says. And there’s no doubting him. He’s a quiet boy, a thoughtful one. He waits half the afternoon for the kitten to come on out, even after Lula and Jack leave to start dinner. 

Something in Lula’s chest clenches - her heart, probably - when she glances back at Tye through the door. “He’s a good kid,” she says. She’s heating a pan up to sear steaks for them. 

“Yeah,” Jack agrees, waiting for her to continue. He’s making a salad, cutting up all the different components. But Atlas opens the front door and interrupt them, so she doesn’t say what else she was thinking. 

“Hey,” Danny says. “What’s up.” 

“So casual,” Jack says with a grin. “A master of normal behavior.” 

“We got a cat?” Danny continues with a smile. 

“Yeah, Tye’s in with her,” Lula answers. “How do you want your steak?” 

“Medium well. Thanks.” He sits on the couch and flips on the TV.

“Sure.” Lula picks up a steak and plops it into the pan, and a second. She sees Jack glance over at the pan, and she knows his faces now, even the ones that don’t look like they mean anything. She knows they mean a lot. She watches this one until Jack catches her. 

He flips her off for a second. “Lu,” he says in a warning tone. 

“Nope,” Lula says. “You cannot actually stop me from looking at you, y’know.” 

“I wish I could.” He sounds frustrated, but she can’t tell how much of it is for real. “You pay way too much attention to me.” 

“Newsflash, dude. I could pay way more attention to you than I do. I pay some attention. You’re super observant. And I know we’ve discussed-“

“Lula,” he says flatly. 

“And we don’t have to discuss it again right now,” she continues louder.

“Good.” Jack savagely cuts a carrot. Then he corrects himself. “I mean. Y’know. Not like.” 

He just bristles at any intimate personal interaction, she’s more than aware. She loves him anyways. “It’s fine, honey,” she says. “Let me look at you. I won’t say anything.” 

“Anything?” 

“Not till we’re alone,” she amends with a smile. 

Jack sighs deeply, and then he smiles back. “Good deal. Sorry. C’mere.” He kisses her, hugs her with one arm. “Sorry,” he repeats. 

“Forgive you. Yours medium?” 

“Yep.” 

She’s moved on, flipping the steaks and getting the next ones ready, but Jack hasn’t. He adds, “Love you.”

“Whatever. Love you too.” 

“So articulate,” he mumbles, and so they’re through that. “Yo, Dan. When’s the old man getting home?” 

Danny’s watching poker. Doesn’t want to get rusty. He’s also fiddling with a gold dollar coin, probably for his sleight of hand. She finds his habits incomprehensibly charming. “Not sure,” Danny says. “He’s really loving his mechanic thing.” 

“It’s probably a good thing,” Jack says. “He’s not hypnotizing anybody, and I always worry he’ll turn into some kind of Voldemort situation.” 

“Same,” Lula agrees, pointing at him with a spatula. 

“Hey,” Tye says. “Look.” He walks very slowly out of the room with the cat in his arms. 

“Nice,” Danny says. He mutes the TV. “What’s her name?” 

“Jinx,” Tye says. 

“Oh like that TV show?” 

Jack and Lula simultaneously turn to each other for validation, and then to Tye to smirk. Tye’s grinning. “Alright, so there’s some old show I don’t know about,” he says. “Whatever. She’s purring.” 

“Do cats wear collars?” Danny asks of the room. 

“Sometimes,” Jack answers. “Tye, how you want your steak?” 

“Uh, normal? What’s normal.” 

“Medium well.” 

“Right. Okay. That.” Tye walks very smoothly over to the couch and sits with Jinx in his arms. “Y’wanna pet her?” he asks Danny. 

Lula doesn’t hear his answer because Jack pokes her arm. “Hey,” he says. “Let’s go out this weekend, yeah? Just us.” 

“Yeah, okay. Like a date,” she teases. 

“Maybe. Don’t get squirrely on me.” 

“I’ll be sure not to.” 

He’s getting better with it too. Even though he gave her so much shit at the beginning, that night when they’re putting on pajamas and getting in bed, he talks, just as promised. 

“Hey, uh. I got burned,” he says out of nowhere. 

“What?” 

“Yeah, like. On a stove, y’know. I was like, fourteen, I think.” 

Lula feels several things simultaneously. All she knows for certain is that she can’t force anything, or even take too long. “Oh yeah?” 

“Right, so. I’ll let you make the steaks.”

“Everything we make on the stove, you mean?” 

“Yeah.”

“Okay, babe. I can do that.” She hesitates. “Wow, we really haven’t done a lot of cooking in the past year, have we. That I just found this out.” 

Jack laughs a little, his eyes wet, and Lula comes over to hug him. He’s better at accepting it; he dips his head down and lets her hug him tight. “Yeah,” he says. “Microwaves are a totally different story.” 

“Alright, you dork,” she says. “Thanks for telling me.” 

“Whatever. You should tell me something.” 

Lula smiles at him. “Alright. What should I say?” 

“Celebrity crush. Middle school.” 

“God. You’re gonna judge me for this. Dawson. From Dawson’s Creek. I just loved him, I don’t have an excuse.” 

Jack laughs. “Okay,” he says. “Thank you. That’s amazing.” 

Their room isn’t exactly just theirs. They have a king sized bed, but Jack and her only take up half most nights, and there’s an open invitation for Tye to come in whenever he can’t get to sleep on his own. He comes in after they’re mostly asleep. To give them privacy Lula thinks, which is very sweet. And tonight he brings the cat, too. 

“So this is it,” Jack says while the cat crawls over him. “This is how the Horsemen settle down. Once great and legendary. Now we’re just cat people. A family.” 

“The ultimate horror,” Lula says sympathetically. 

“Shut up, you know what I mean.” 

“Unless you mean we’re cool and you’re happy to be with me forever, then no, I don’t,” Lula says, and then adds, “But I do. Is this so bad?” 

“Well,” Jack shrugs. “I always thought we had at least one more heist in us.”

“Heist?” Tye says. 

“Maybe,” Lula says. “But until then.” 

“Well, until then, this is fine. More than fine.” 

"Glowing endorsement,” she says crossly. “Damn Jack.” 

He inches closer to her and kisses her shoulder. “C’mon, you know what I mean. It’s just, like.” 

“It’s just that you're an adrenaline junky?” Lula suggests. 

“No. But I miss performance, and like. I dunno. I like having a big… thing, to be working towards. Did Dylan have anything to say about that?” 

They both know the answer, but she gives it anyways. “No.” 

“No. So we’re supposed to just be fine, waiting for him to think of his next big idea? Really? It’s bullshit.” 

“It’s a little boring, but it’s not awful,” Tye interjects. 

Lula didn't know he was listening; they’ve been whispering. “True,” she says. “But Dylan does have an obnoxious God complex. That’s basically a fact. An awful, awful fact.”

“It’s not terrible,” Jack agrees with him. “But I’ve had… or, _we’ve_ had such a great time before with the big shit that it can't even compare, y’know??” 

“Would I get to do it too?” Tye asks.

“Sure,” Jack answers on instinct. 

“Well,” Lula says. “We kind of have to tell him we took you with us, first. So that might be a bit of an uphill battle.” 

Tye, to his credit, seems to take that in stride. “Oh. Okay. Well, cool.” 

“He’s not gonna kick you out,” Lula says, probably too late. “He’ll just complain.” 

“Another lecture on how to live undercover,” Jack says glumly. “Like just cuz he was with the FBI, he knows everything about being undercover. He was a normal office guy, right?” 

“Yeah. With a double life.” 

“I feel like a lot of normal office guys have secret lives, though,” Jack says, and the other two laugh. 

“Alright,” Lula says then. “So are we going to sleep now? Or are we going to keep complaining. Not that that isn’t fun.” 

Jack sighs in a way that implies he’s also rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying.” 

“I know,” Lula says. “Me too. We’ll think on it.”

“Talk to Danny,” Tye suggests. 

“Definitely. Will do. But I do work tomorrow.” 

“Okay, we’re going to bed,” Jack says. “But look.” 

“Oh my God. Okay. I’m going to see if Danny’s up,” Lula gives up. “God.” But also kinda fuck work, when they could be planning a heist. 

 

 

 

Six months later, Lula’s discovered stage fright isn’t something that fades over time. Not even a little bit. She’s standing backstage and fiddling with her bracelet, and then getting stressed about accidentally activating it. 

Jack comes over to her. “You’re gonna miss your cue,” she says to him. 

“I am not, I have two minutes and forty seconds.” He separates her hands and takes them in his. “You’re gonna set that off.”

“I know, I’m just… I’m so nervous. Did I used to be this nervous?” she asks quietly. 

“Probably not,” he answers, perfectly calm. “We’re out of practice. But you were perfect at every trial. It’s gonna be fine. We’re all gonna be there with you.” 

“Yeah. It’ll be fine when I’m up there.” She exhales shakily. “Fuck.”

Tye comes over too, from her other side. “Hey, you okay, Lu?” 

“I’m fine. You’re gonna miss your cue.” 

“I am not, we have two minutes and fourteen seconds. C’mon, it’ll be fun.” 

Lula feels a twinge of annoyance at these two perfect boys and their love of the stage. “I’m aware,” she says. “It’ll be fun.” 

“Well _that_ sounded forced,” Jack says to Tye.

Tye grins, and Lula punches Jack in the arm. “Fuck you.”

“You wearing that matte lipstick?” he asks. 

“Yeah, why?” 

“Shield your eyes, Tyler.” Jack pulls her close by the hands and kisses her firmly. “We’re gonna be fine,” he says. “We’re gonna have so much fun, and then we get to disappear. Again.” 

“Ibiza. An island, a beach.” She takes a deep breath. “Do cats like beaches?” 

“Lu, we won’t actually be living _on_ the beach.” 

“Right. Right, right. How long?” 

Jack checks his watch. “Minute thirty-seven.” Tye nods. 

“Okay. C’mere,” she says to Tye, and she hugs him and kisses his hair. “We love you. If something goes wrong, we’ll take care of you. But you’re also probably the only person who practices more than Jack, so I think you’ll be just fine. Okay?” 

He nods. “Yeah. Thanks. You’ll be fine too.” He hugs her back before heading back to his spot. 

“They’ll love him,” Jack says. “He’ll be fine.” 

“They really will. We’ll have to beat off the suitors with a stick,” Lula says in a confidential tone. “To protect his heart.” 

“We’ll have to keep him off the internet so he doesn’t get an ego.” 

“Oh, right. Like you’re one to talk about ego.” 

Jack just smiles at her, warm, like his hands around hers. “No, you’re one to talk."

“Okay. Well try not to give me that look on stage, babe. Our blossoming romance will be the center of attention tomorrow and that’s not the plan.” 

“Not the plan at all,” he agrees solemnly. “I’ll try to tone it down. Remember not to call me babe, too. How about that?” 

“A fair point. A very fair point. Yeah.” She can’t hide her smiles. “Well. Let’s do this,” she says after a second. 

“Wow. That’s your final words? Lame,” he says, smile breaking over his face. “You need way better lines. Get Danny to write you something.” 

“Fuck you. I can do better. Give me a second.” Scowling, she thinks for several long moments. “How about… no. I can’t. I don’t have any good ideas, sorry. That’s what I’ve got right now. I’m not pleased either, I know.” 

Jack’s smile just grows. “Amazing. You’re so lame.” He shakes his head. 

“Stop harassing me and go to your place,” Lula protests. “The nerve.” 

“Okay, sure, fine.” His smile turns mischievous, but Lula isn’t fast enough to keep him from saying, “Let’s do this, babe,” and darting off. 

Motherfucker. She loves him with all her heart.

The lights go up.


End file.
